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Doctor Who’s Success Leading to More Time Travel Shows

By David Hill

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When it comes to time travel adventures, there isn’t a program out there that tops Doctor Who in things such as scope and originality. However, that success is spawning a new crop of time travel programs looking to ride that wave.

They say that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. As movies and television shows become hits, they spawn other similar movies and programs looking to ride that popularity to their own success. Sometimes it works; other times, it leads to shoddily produced content, oversaturation, and even a general boredom of the given genre. As a couple of examples, the popularity of both vampires and zombies exploded over roughly the last ten years, with mixed results. Also, while the superhero genre has a lot of great stuff to offer, it has become a monopolistic monster as of late.

Given the success of Doctor Who, it is not a surprise that other shows are looking to emulate the program by utilizing the concept of time travel. Perhaps the only surprise is that it has not happened earlier. It seems, however, as though these networks are looking to make up for lost time, with the Arthur Darvill vehicle DC’s Legends of Tomorrow and the upcoming NBC show Timeless.

Now, we obviously cannot expect these shows to be Doctor Who, nor even want them to be. What would be the point of a bunch of knock-offs? Some of these new shows will appeal to the vast majority of fans of Doctor Who, and some will not. DC’s Legends of Tomorrow has a very strong fan base that strongly overlaps with that of Doctor Who. Despite featuring our Arthur, however, it does not appeal to all of us. My fiancee watched a couple of episodes, but it did not hook her. This is perhaps because it is geared more toward an audience partial to a particular style common to many of the contemporary superhero franchises. (That is not to say that she does not enjoy super heroes at all, though.)

The trailer for Timeless doesn’t give us much hope. Other than the dialogue and acting being a bit painful, it also borrows elements from lots of sources in the genre, but in a cliché manner rather than as an homage.

Time Travelling Bong? I say, “Let’s not,” but my fiancee is greatly amused by it. Granted, it is for a rather niche audience. Shows like Outlander, 12 Monkeys, and 11.22.63, however, all seem to have a lot of positive feedback from a much wider audience. Their strength is likely due to their source materials — the first being based on the Outlander novel series by Diana Gabaldon, the second being based on the films La Jetée and 12 Monkeys, and the third being based on the Stephen King novel 11/22/63.

More from Doctor Who

It is a testament to Doctor Who that any other show simply with a plot relying heavily on time travel will be compared to it. We have to be careful, however, to not let our perception of these other shows be clouded by Doctor Who. As the established gold standard of that type of program, and a show that may be in the midst of its second Golden Age, perhaps Doctor Who has created biased expectations for other time travel franchises in both style and initial quality. We could easily do a disservice to newer programs. Firstly, they are their own independent entities. Time travel is a very broad plot device that allows for a lot of variation in style. Secondly, it is difficult to live up to that standard of quality so early in their histories. Trying to find the footing for a show — at least until the writers and actors get comfortable — can be quite the hard row to hoe.

Next: Behind the scenes with Barrowman and David-Lloyd

Doctor Who is likely going to spawn even more time travel programs as the show continues to find success. The only real question may be why it took so long for this boom to happen.

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