The Time Traveler’s Wife
Sky Atlantic/ NOW, Monday, 9pm
There are so many shots of actor Theo James’ naked backside in this show, they might as well call it “The Time Traveler’s Arse”. James plays Henry de Tamble, the titular time traveller, and one of the consequences of his time traveling is that whenever he lands anywhere after a bout of journeying into the past or future, he is completely naked. This is all very much faithful to the original novel by Audrey Niffenegger, although my memory of the 2009 film version is that we only got a handful of glimpses of its star Eric Bana’s rear. That was a PG-13 movie, though. In this lengthier, much more adult TV version, adapted by time-travel expert Steven Moffat of Doctor Who show-running fame, the central character of Henry is constantly, hectically jumping around in time all over the place, with consequent myriad appearances of his posterior. I have no idea if they’ve used a bottom double, but suffice to say if they did, the stand-in deserves some of Theo’s fee. (There’s also a startlingly bold sequence of a sexual nature in episode two. You’ll know when you get to it.) But there’s way more to this show than bum nakedness. It’s a consistently fascinating study of what it would be like to live a non-linear life. In this story, time travel is an affliction, both for
Henry himself and for Clare, the love of his life (Rose Leslie). This poor woman somehow has to deal with the fact that her eventual husband suddenly pops up when
‘The film was bland’
she least expects it, when he doesn’t even know who she is, and then disappears on her. And while the film version was bland and predictable, this series is a much deeper dive into its characters’ extraordinary dilemmas. As well as breaking the record for lead actor butt shots.