Time-Travel Television

Stories of time travel have been part of science fiction since H. G. Wells sent his nameless hero hurtling into Earth’s distant future in The Time Machine. Time travel enables the storyteller to depict alternate realities, bring fictional characters face to face with historical figures, and depict moral and ethical dilemmas in which millions of lives (or the world as we know it) are at stake. From Doctor Who and Quantum Leap to the multiple incarnations of Star Trek, time travel has been a staple of science fiction television for more than fifty years.

Time-Travel Television: The Past from the Present, the Future from the Pastsurveys the whole range of time travel stories on the small screen. The essays in this collection explore time travel series both familiar (Babylon 5, Stargate SG-1) and forgotten (The Time Tunnel, Voyagers!), as well as time-travel themed episodes and arcs in series where it is not central, such as Red Dwarf, Lost, and Heroes. Contributors to this volume consider some of the classic themes of time-travel stories: the promise (and peril) of “fixing” the past, the chance to experience (and choose) possible futures, and the potential for small changes to have great effects.

Exploring time travel as a teaching tool, as a vehicle for moral lessons, and as a background for high adventure, this book offers new perspectives on many familiar programs and the first serious study of several unjustly neglected ones. Time-Travel Television is essential reading for science fiction scholars and fans, and for anyone interested in the many ways that television brings the fantastic into viewers’ living rooms.