What is it about?
Created by Brad Wright, who co-created Stargate SG-1, Stagate Atlantis, and Stargate Universe, Travelers is a science fiction hour long drama, centring on a team of 5 time travellers. The team have returned from a dystopian future, aiming to correct mistakes of the past, and are guided by ‘The Director’, an AI in the future.
Who’s in it?
An accomplished ensemble cast, including Eric McCormack, Mackenzie Porter, Jared Abrahamson, Nesta Cooper, Reilly Dolman, Leah Cairns, Jennifer Spence, and Patrick Gilmore. A couple of these you will have seen in many things, e.g. Eric McCormack (Will and Grace), Leah Cairns (Battlestar Galactice, Sanctuary), Jennifer Spence (Continuum, Stargate Universe, 4400), and Patrick Gilmore (Everything filmed in Canada for the last 15 years!), but some will be new and welcome discoveries.
What’s so good about it?
Every year there seems to be a trend in TV, with this year seemingly saturated with ‘Special OPs’/’S.W.A.T.’ type dramas (Seal Team, The Brave, Valor, S.W.A.T.), while last year it was time travel shows; of those the best two were Timeless and Travelers, with Travelers being head and shoulders above the competition. While the other shows have taken a more generic approach, with actual time travel machines, Travelers takes a more difficult and complex road, with future consciousness’s being transferred into the bodies of people about to die in the present. This makes it much more grounded, rooting it in the present, but the show has also been able to mine more complex aspects of the genre and not fallen into a ‘monster of the week’ style procedural ‘chase through time’ that other shows have relied on. This is a show that deals with moral, social and dramatic issues, feels more ‘hard sci-fi’, and isn’t just a time travel ‘MacGuffin’ show.
When is it on?
It aired on Tuesdays on Showcase, and is on Netflix internationally.
Anything else we should know?
Currently, the second season has just finished, so there is plenty of good TV ahead of you, which you will end up binge watching, so set aside 24 straight hours!
