The Time Traveler's Wife - Series One Review

When looking back on Steven Moffat’s era of Doctor Who, one can see the similarities between his work and Audrey Niffenegger's debut novel about a time travelling love story. Which is why this review is bittersweet, because sadly this show has been cancelled weeks after the first season finale despite having a strong first season.

The Time Traveler’s Wife tells of the story of Henry DeTamble (Divergent’s Theo James), a dashing, adventuresome librarian who has a genetic disorder that makes him travel involuntarily through time, and Clare Abshire (Game of Thrones’ Rose Leslie), an artist who falls in love with him and has to deal with his sudden and sometimes long absences. Henry and Clare’s passionate love affair endures across a sea of time and captures the two lovers in an impossibly romantic trap.

Many people will already know of the film adaptation from 2009 which starred Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana. This adaptation differs in many ways, especially in the characterisations of both Clare and Henry. Unlike many TV shows, this show had one distinctive writing style and visual tone. Steven Moffat penned all six episodes with David Nutter directing. Both creatives were superb, producing a beautiful and poignant adaptation. Also unlike the film, this series delved into darker themes from the book - with six episodes and a longer runtime, these themes were explored in much depth.

Throughout the six episodes, many of the actors have the opportunity to play their characters in different timelines at different ages - Leslie and James performances shine in this series, playing their characters from teenagers to old age. Both actors portray their characters exceedingly well - as helpful as the text reminding us when we’re seeing Clare and Henry at different ages, their performances make that instantly recognisable.

Even though this is a love story - one that’s told in a non-linear style at times - the ensemble cast are more fleshed out than the previous screen adaptation. Caitlin Shorey, Everleigh McDonnell, Michael Park, Jaime Ray Newman, Taylor Richardson, Peter Graham, Brian Altemus, Jason David, Kate Siegel, Josh Stamberg, Chelsea Frei, Marcia DeBonis, Will Brill and Spencer House were outstanding in their respective roles.

I read that some viewers found the relationship problematic at times - to that, I strongly disagree especially when you think of the timeline of events:

1) Henry meets Clare when she’s a university student (he’s twenty-eight and she’s twenty) and falls in love with her over the following twenty years, but she’s known of him and key events for years prior.

2) Clare’s first meeting with Henry is when he travels back to her childhood. In his timeline, he’s been married to Claire for over a decade and known her for nearly twenty years. For fourteen years in Clare’s timeline, he’s her friend, confidant and protector - she of course doesn’t learn the truth of their future timeline until much later.

3) The relationship itself never crosses into inappropriate territory and the romance doesn’t actually start till both leads are in their twenties in the same timeline. Unlike The Vampire Diaries or Twilight - where the supernatural lead is hundreds or centuries years older than the much younger heroine.

Given the fact that there were only six episodes, Moffat delved into some fantastic character moments and laid the groundwork for future seasons.

Genuinely, I hope another network pick this up and continue the show. Each episode was perfectly executed and out of all the shows to receive renewals, this is an absolutely injustice that The Time Traveler’s Wife didn’t. Rarely do you see an adaptation where the team clearly have such love for the source material - even recreating the book cover for the title sequence, each episode had a distinctive reimagining of that image.

There’s only a week to watch this series on Sky Atlantic, but I believe it will be available on Amazon Prime or Apple TV. Unlike the film, this show has made me want to read the original novel - I need answers as to where the characters are headed after the finale. So you guys should expect a book review coming over this summer.

I believe this show should’ve been given more of a chance. Personally, I feel the decision to cancel season two was made prematurely - Which viewers will see when they finally get a chance to watch season one in full.

My rating for The Time Traveler’s Wife is ★★★★½.