ABC’s new dramatic series Time After Time is based on the novel by Karl Alexander which was adapted into the popular 1979 film of the same name starring Malcolm McDowell and Mary Steenburgen. Kevin Williamson (The Following, The Vampire Diaries) is writing and executive producing, with Marcos Siega (Blindspot) directing and executive producing. ABC’s planning on launching the series starring Freddie Stroma as H.G. Wells, Josh Bowman as John Stevenson/Jack the Ripper, and Genesis Rodriguez as Jane at midseason.
Marcos Siega says that when Kevin Williamson approached him with the idea of working on a television series adaptation of Time After Time, he instantly fell in love with Williamson’s approach to the project. “It’s not an obvious television series,” explained Siega during our roundtable interview at the 2016 San Diego Comic Con. “It came out of Kevin’s love for the movie. He still doesn’t believe me but I have not watched the movie on purpose; I read the book. I just felt that I’m going to have to execute and I just didn’t want to have the thing in my head of how it was blocked. I did watch the trailer. I was on YouTube and like, ‘I have to see it,’ I just didn’t want to have to watch the whole thing.”
Asked about the show’s premise, Siega said, “What the series is is when H.G. pursues Jack into present day, the series is really about the adventures that H.G. Wells goes on not just pursuing Jack the Ripper but in present day the adventures he goes on and how those adventures informed his novels. So season one for example would be The Island of Dr. Moreau. The inspiration for that novel came out of the things he’s going to experience in present day New York, because he came to pursue Jack the Ripper. What are the events that inspired The Invisible Man? What are the events that inspired War of the Worlds? He’s considered the father of science fiction and a lot of what he wrote about was ahead of his time. The idea is that maybe he was ahead of his time, maybe he got these ideas by actually experiencing things and then he went back and wrote these novels.”
In order to prepare for the role of H.G. Wells, Stroma read The Time Machine, The Island of Dr. Moreau, and The Invisible Man. “I’d seen the movie as well,” said Stroma. “What I’ve noticed that we’ve taken that I feel does come from H.G. Wells is his obsession with utopia, which I think he did have. And that’s definitely what we have in this is an H.G. Wells who really believes the best and he thinks that science and technology will help us become a better race so that’s why he’s profoundly disappointed when he comes to modern day and sees everything that he sees.”
Discussing his interpretation of Wells, Stroma said he sees him as very wide-eyed. “There have been moments where I feel he’s a little too wide-eyed because he gives John Stevenson these chances. He expects John Stevenson when he catches him to just be like, ‘All right, come on. We’re going back now.’ He’s a killer and he’s not coming back, but that’s how much he believes John Stevenson will change his ways and be a good person,” explained Stroma. “He really, really does believe that humans have this innate ability to just be full of love, and I think that’s what he seeks out in everyone.”
Watching Stroma as Wells change and adapt will be part of the fun of the series. Plus, at Time After Time‘s core is a love story. “There’s a love triangle in there. He comes to present day and he meets Jane Walker, played by Genesis Rodriguez, and they are immediately sort of put together through situations that are unfortunate for her but she needs him in her life and he needs her to navigate modern day. And then how do we fold Jack the Ripper into that? Eventually he will be part of that threesome,” said Siega.
Check out the full interview with Marcos Siega and Freddie Stroma for more on the first season of Time After Time, Jack the Ripper, and creating the world of the show.
