Travel time is probably one of the more popular plot devices within sci-fi (and some fantasy) TV shows. Fans of sci-fi and fantasy are familiar with various forms of time travel, including time loops, arguably made famous in pop culture by Groundhog Day, and traveling to the past to alter the future, reminiscent of Back to the Future. There are also time doors, time portals, wormholes, and your standard time machine. Sometimes, even events are triggers for time travel.
With all the different ways time travel can occur in fiction, there are plenty of television shows with interesting time-travel plots to choose from. However, some time-travel shows are more rewatchable than others because of plot holes, unrelatable characters, or repetitive plot devices. Luckily, there are time-travel television shows out there that are worthy of a rewatch by sci-fi and fantasy fans. These TV shows make time travel interesting with intricate storylines, loveable characters, and mind-bending timelines.
10 ‘Ashes to Ashes’ (2008-2010)
Created by Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah
Ashes to Ashes, in the same vein as Life on Mars, is a British crime drama series that ran for three seasons on BBC One. The series stars Keeley Hawkes as DI Alex Drake; it was shot in 2008 by Arthur Layton, and she is sent back to 1981. She comes face-to-face with DCI Gene Hunt (played by Philip Glenister), whom she had read about during her investigation into the bizarre incidents surrounding Sam Tyler, the protagonist of Life on Mars. Alex is determined to figure out how to get back to her own time, but in the meantime, she teams up with Gene to solve cases.
While Ashes to Ashes tends to settle into a case in each episode, it stands out from a standard police procedural. The mystery of why Alex has been sent back in time permeates through the plot and keeps viewers intrigued about what is going to happen next. Life on Mars leaves the ending of Sam’s story ambiguous, and Ashes to Ashes provides an explanation of Alex and Sam’s time travel. There are so many interesting details within Ashes to Ashes that provide hints of what is coming in the show’s finale that it makes for a great rewatch. Viewers can pick up on things that they might have missed leading up to the big reveal. Not only are these hints fascinating for viewers to find and try to connect everything together, but the chemistry between the main characters, the moody Gene and the witty Alex, is magnetic, which gives fans a potential romance to invest in. After all, any police procedural needs a good dynamic relationship to keep viewers engaged with the show. Therefore, the Alex and Gene moments alone make Ashes to Ashes worth watching again and again.
9 ‘Russian Doll’ (2019-2022)
Created by Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne, and Amy Poehler
After getting hit by a car and dying, 37-year-old Nadia Vulvokov (Natasha Lyonne) finds herself reliving the day of her birthday over and over again in Netflix’s comedy-drama series, Russian Doll. But, Natasha isn’t alone in being caught in a time loop; Alan (Charlie Barnett) is also reliving the same day. And this is just season one of Russian Doll. In the second season, Nadia and Alan find themselves going between the past and present day. Nadia is taken back to the 1970s to “visit” her mother, x (y), and Alan goes to West Germany before the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.
When sci-fi fans think of time loops, they might picture the movie, Groundhog Day. Russian Doll separates itself from Groundhog Day by taking the monotony out of its plot with surprising twists and creating space for complex character development. The complexity of the time loops (and eventually time travel) really makes fans think about how everything is connected. Lyonne and Barnett give incredible performances in Russian Doll. Nadia and Alan are flawed characters, but this only makes them extremely relatable. Viewers will want them to escape the time loop and get back to their normal lives they are missing out on. The second season does away with the time loops and brings in time travel. Both Nadia and Alan want to change the past in order to make the future better.
Russian Doll
- Release Date
- February 1, 2019
- Creator
- Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler
- Seasons
- 2
8 ‘Quantum Leap’ (1989-1993)
Created by Donald P. Bellisario
Before Scott Bakula helmed the Enterprise as Captain Jonathan Archer in Star Trek: Enterprise, he played a physicist named Dr. Sam Beckett. Dr. Beckett is working to make time travel a reality, but after a few years and lots of money, he discovers that the government is planning to pull the plug on his work. He decides to use himself as a test subject. Ever since he stepped into the Quantum Leap Accelerator, Sam has been living other people’s lives in the past. But he isn’t alone, as he has a little help from AI (Dean Stockwell), a hologram from his own time.
Firstly, Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell are really a great dynamic duo in Quantum Leap. The banter between Sam and Ai is one of the biggest reasons that this popular time travel show is worthy of rewatching. This is a formula for each episode, which can make it predictable but comforting at the same time. Sam finds himself in the body of someone else, and he must figure out how to help the person with a problem. Once he solves the problem, Sam then time travels to the next place. The show weaves in a lot of history and famous figures, which makes room for some great guest star appearances, like Bruce McGill as Al the Bartender in “Mirror Image” and Debbie Allen as Joanna Chapman in “Private Dancer.”
7 ‘The Lazarus Project’ (2022-2023)
Created by Joe Barton
The Lazarus Project is an action-packed time travel show that, unfortunately, only had two seasons. The show stars Paapa Essiedu as George Addo and Charly Clive as Sarah. George is happily living his best life with his wife, Sarah, but he notices something strange happening—a time loop. No one else seems to realize that the time loop exists, except for George. George is contacted by a secret organization, and it is told that he is one of the few people on Earth who can recall time-reversion events. He is invited to join the Lazarus Project team. Their mission is to prevent mass extinction events by any means necessary and then do a time reset. When Sarah is in a life-threatening car accident that results in her death, George wants to go back in time to save her. However, the Lazarus Project team doesn’t approve of this, and George decides to save Sarah, even if it means breaking the rules. George’s actions cause a cascade of events that threaten humanity.
Unfortunately, The Lazarus Project only ran for two seasons, but it made an impression on sci-fi fans. The show explores thought-provoking questions around topics like morality, as any good sci-fi TV show should, and brings up interesting dilemmas around time travel, which some shows might hesitate to address because of their complexity. The characters of The Lazarus Project, especially George, are put in high-stakes situations, which makes each episode like a mini-action movie. This sci-fi show has also been praised for the cast’s intense performances. It’s thrilling to rewatch The Lazarus Project to see how George’s character changes throughout the show.
The Lazarus Project
- Release Date
- June 16, 2022
- Creator
- Joe Barton
- Cast
- Paapa Essiedu , Anjli Mohindra , Tom Burke , Caroline Quentin , Rudi Dharmalingam , Charly Clive , Brian Gleeson , Vinette Robinson
- Seasons
- 1
- Studio
- Urban Myth Films
6 ’12 Monkeys’ (2015-2018)
Created by Travis Fickett and Terry Matalas.jpg)
Adapted from the 1995 film directed by Terry Gilliam, which is one of the most rewatchable 90s sci-fi movies, Syfy’s 12 Monkeys is a sci-fi television show starring Aaron Stanford as James Cole and Amanda Schull as Dr. Cassandra Railly. In a post-apocalyptic world in the year 2043, a group of scientists from Spearhead, led by Dr. Katrina Jones (Barbara Sukowa), discovers the abandoned Project Splinter. After many unsuccessful attempts to time travel, Dr. Jones recruits James Cole, a scavenger, to be a time traveler. She sends Cole back in time (also known as “splintering”) to try to stop a pandemic of Kalavirus from happening. Cole meets Dr. Railly, a virologist, and they discover the virus was created by an organization known as the Army of the 12 Monkeys.
One of the biggest challenges for any time travel show is making it believable, and 12 Monkeys manages to do exactly that. There isn’t anything off with the way the show weaves in different timelines. The elements of realism woven into the show’s intricate plot are what make 12 Monkeys such a great show to rewatch. The writers put lots of hints within the dialogue, and 12 Monkeys fans love rewatching the show because they are able to catch the significance of these lines when they weren’t able to before.
12 Monkeys
- Release Date
- January 16, 2015
- Seasons
- 4
5 ‘Undone’ (2019-2022)
Created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg and Kate Purdy
After she almost dies in a car accident, Alma Winograd-Diaz (Rosa Salazar) discovers that she can manipulate time and sees her deceased father, Jacob Winograd (Bob Odenkirk). Alma investigates the truth about her father’s death. This is all just the first season of Undone. In the second season, Alma and her sister, Becca (Angelique Cabral), go through a time-bending journey into their family’s generational trauma.
Undone is done in rotoscope, and the visuals in both seasons are breathtaking. It’s like artwork coming to life. Besides the breathtaking visuals, Undone’s time-bending plot is intriguing, especially so during the second season, when Becca also experiences what Alma has been going through. The best moments of the show are the chemistry between Salazar and Cabral, who brilliantly portray the Winograd-Diaz sisters. This chemistry brings out the show’s best dark humor moments, making it worth watching.
Undone
- Release Date
- September 13, 2019
- Seasons
- 2
4 ‘The Ministry of Time’ (2015-2020)
Created by Pablo Olivares and Javier Olivares
The Ministry of Time (El ministerio del tiempo), also called The Time Department, is a Spanish fantasy drama in which a secret organization, known only to the Spanish Monarchy and the Prime Minister, is in charge of guarding time doors and preventing anyone from changing history through time manipulation. Julián Martínez (Rodolfo Sancho), a paramedic from the 21st century, is recruited by The Ministry of Time, along with Amelia Folch (Aura Garrido), a university student from 19th century Barcelona, and Alonso de Entrerríos (Nacho Fresneda), a solider from 16th century Seville, to make sure that events in history go as planned.
The Ministry of Time is a fun rewatch for history buffs, as this time travel TV show focuses on historical events in Spain and around the world. With its focus on history, there are plenty of opportunities for significant figures, like Salvador Dalí and Isabella II of Spain, to make appearances throughout the show’s four seasons. It’s also entertaining to watch characters from different time periods interact together, especially Julián, Amelia, and Alonso.
3 ‘Dark’ (2017-2020)
Created by Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese
Dark is a German television series on Netflix about generations of families, including the Kahnwalds, Nielsens, Tiedemanns, and Dopplers, over a span of time. In the town of Winden, Germany, children go missing, and there is a connection between the missing children and a cave underneath a nuclear power plant. The show’s main families discover a wormhole within the cave, and soon their secrets unravel.
The families in Dark are very elaborate and complex, just like the show’s plot, so it’s easy to miss connections during the first watch through. The cast does a remarkable job of amplifying the show’s intensity with their acting. While the intensity can make it hard to binge-watch, it’s worth rewatching to experience the emotional journey that these families go on. Watching this sci-fi thriller is an emotional rollercoaster, as there are so many layers within the stories that cross different eras.
2 ‘Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency’
Created by Max Landis
It’s rare to have a sci-fi show that has humor without being cheesy (or puny), especially one that is also a crime drama. Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency takes the absurdity and hilarity of Douglas Adams’ novel of the same name to a whole new level. Elijah Wood plays Todd Brotzman, a bellhop whose life is changed forever after he stumbles upon the body of a millionaire, Patrick Spring. Detective Dirk Gently, played by Samuel Barnett, meets Todd, and the two begin to investigate the murder. However, it won’t be an easy investigation as Dirk has made some enemies who want him dead.
What makes Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency so rewatchable is just how absurd it is, and the strangeness in the plot (with its eventual dash of time travel) just adds to the show’s great sense of humor. Elijah Wood and Samuel Barnett make a great comedic duo, and they go above and beyond to roll with any weirdness that is thrown their way. The “villains” in Dirk Gently are just as hilarious with their wicked sense of dark humor. One of the standout “villains” is Bart Curlish (Fiona Dourif), a holistic assassin who believes that the universe brings people for her to kill.
1 ‘Doctor Who’
Created by Sydney Newman, Donald Wilson, and C. E. Webber
One of the most beloved time travel shows is Doctor Who, which first premiered on November 23, 1963. The Doctor is a time lord, and they have been played by multiple actors over the years, including David Tennant and Jodie Whittaker. The current actor who plays the Doctor is Ncuti Gatwa, who gave a stunning performance in his first season debut. As a time lord, the Doctor travels in a Tardis, a time-traveling machine disguised as a police box. The Doctor doesn’t travel alone; they are often accompanied by companions, humans who want to see the universe. Currently, the Doctor’s companion is Ruby Sunday, played by Milie Gibson.
With over 800 episodes so far, there is so much history and lore in Doctor Who. That means there is a lot to rewatch! What makes this show such a great rewatch is the variation in storytelling and iconic characters. As Doctor Who fans are well aware, time travel makes for great adventures for the Doctor and their friends, which means rewatching episodes doesn’t get old at all.
Doctor Who
The show follows the adventures of a Time Lord, “The Doctor,” who is able to regenerate, and the Doctor’s human friends. The Doctor and his companions journey through time and space in the TARDIS – a time-traveling ship shaped like a police box – saving the universe with a combination of wit, bravery, and kindness.
- Release Date
- March 17, 2006
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
- Seasons
- 14
- Studio
- BBC America
- Streaming Service(s)
- Disney+