Title card for the HBO series The Time Traveler's Wife (2022).
The Time Traveler's Wife is a science fictionromanticdrama[1] television series based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Audrey Niffenegger.[1] The series was developed and written by Steven Moffat, who had previously taken inspiration from Niffenegger's novel for his work on Doctor Who.[4] It was directed by David Nutter, stars Rose Leslie and Theo James, and premiered on HBO on May 15, 2022.[5] The series was canceled after one season in July 2022.[6] The fans of the show started a petition to save the series by approaching other streaming platforms to pick it up for renewal.[7] It was removed from HBO Max in December 2022.[8]
Blending romance and science fiction,[1] the series follows the relationship between Henry DeTamble, a man with a genetic disorder which causes him to sporadically travel through time for short periods, and Clare Abshire, a woman who met an older version of Henry when she was a girl who told her they were married in the future.[9] Much like the novel on which it is based, the series raises questions about determinism, free will, and identity.[10]
Filming began on the series in May 2021 in New York and ended in October with some filming also taking place in Chicago. David Nutter directed all six episodes.[22]
The series premiered on May 15, 2022[23] and was canceled on July 1, soon after the season finished airing.[6]
Critical reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 37% of 46 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "While it's easy to get swept up in the romance of performers as appealing as Rose Leslie and Theo James, The Time Traveler's Wife often kills the mood with its overdetermined conceit."[24]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 45 out of 100, based on 26 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[25]
Anita Singh of The Daily Telegraph gave the series 2/5 stars, calling it "so lazy that episodes begin with the lead characters reading lines straight into the camera, rather than anyone making the effort to work them into the script."[26] Brian Lowry of CNN called the series "an admirable effort, but one that simply underscores how unadaptable this material might be".[27] Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter criticized the setup of the romance, and added: "while things do improve from there, hollow characters, an uncertain tone and, most damningly, a total lack of chemistry keep The Time Traveler's Wife from ever quite rising to the level of swoon-worthy."[28] Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly gave it a D grade, saying that it had "Bad wigs, limp characterization, indifferent plotting".[29]
Dan Einav of the Financial Times gave the series 3/5 stars, writing: "The show is buoyed by the charisma of the two lovers, and it succeeds in mining its conceit for some gentle humour and reflections on love and loss."[30] Lucy Mangan of The Guardian also gave it 3/5 stars, saying that Moffat "takes the melodrama down a notch and salts the schmaltz with wit where he can", but criticized the nature of the romance and Clare's passivity.[31] Nick Hilton of The Independent also gave it 3/5 stars, writing: "The Time Traveler's Wife does not have the power of the unexpected. But it has a modest, formulaic appeal that will likely keep you going back (and back) for more."[32]
Home media
The complete series was released on DVD, on October 18, 2022.[33]
