Who doesn’t love time travel shows? The concept itself is magical. As we cannot go back or forward in real life, watching shows that make this happen gives a whole different kind of excitement. There are many such time travel shows that will make you feel out of the world. However, very few shows have succeeded. The main reason for this is the failure of handling the concept when it comes to a logical explanation. Most shows mess up with narration and hence fail to reach a larger audience. That is why we decided to list the best time travel shows to make your life easy when it comes to picking the next show to watch.
All the shows mentioned here are available on a variety of streaming services. While Netflix has most shows from the list, you will be surprised to know that some of the best shows are even available on Hulu as well. Let’s look at them in detail.
10 Best Time Travel Shows
- Umbrella Academy
- Dark
- Outlander
- The Time Traveller’s Wife
- Manifest
- Travelers
- Legends Of Tomorrow
- Doctor Who
- Timeless
- Lost
1) Umbrella Academy
Umbrella Academy is one of the most-watched shows on Netflix. The show sets a unique screenplay in which seven siblings reunite to solve the mystery of their father’s death. These siblings are from different mothers, adopted by billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves, and possess a superpower; Luther Hargreeves is known for super strength; Diego Hargreeves has trajectory manipulation meaning he can control projectiles; Allison Hargreeves can influence people to her command with the phrase “I Heard a Rumor”, followed by what she wants to happen; Klaus Hargreeves can communicate with and summon the dead; Five Hargreeves can teleport and time travel; Ben Hargreeves can summon monstrous tentacles from his torso; and Viktor Hargreeves can control sound waves. These unique superpowers make them strong in finding the truth about their father’s death and they also work in unison to stop the imminent global apocalypse. The story runs between the past, present, and future making it binge-watch-worthy!
Currently, three seasons are available on Netflix. The fourth and final season will be released in 2023 or 2024 as per the statement released by Netflix.
2) Dark
Dark is one of the best Netflix TV Shows you should watch! Dark stands unique and best because of its successful implementation of the time travel concept with top-notch quality. It runs in three timelines, past, present, and future making it a perfect trilogy.
The show begins with the disappearance of a child in the small German town of Winden. As many children start vanishing in the air, they try to follow the connection by gathering information from all those families. As they continue their investigation, they will learn about the conspiracy of time travel and its link with several generations. People have been comparing Dark with Stranger Things which completely makes sense but deep down Dark is a completely different show. It is a completely unpredictable show with its mysteries, suspense, supernatural, and family drama. It set the bar high with its tone, visuals, acting, casting, musical score, ambition, and complexity of its narrative.
Three seasons are available on Netflix. Season three is the final season of the Dark so the show has officially ended.
3) Outlander
Outlander is an award-winning show based on the concept of time travel with a bit of historical touch. It is based on the Outlander novel series by Diana Gabaldon.
Claire Randall (Caitríona Balfe ) is a former Second World War military nurse living with her husband in Scotland in 1945. She finds herself transported back in time to 1743. In this world, she feels threatened and the situations make her marry a Highland warrior named Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan). She keeps traveling forth and back and hence her emotions are shared between her two lives.
A prequel of Outlanders, “Blood of my blood” is in the making. Six seasons have been released so far and Netflix has only the first five seasons. The latest season was aired on Stars from Mar 6 to May 1, 2022. The seventh season of Outlanders is supposed to be released in the summer of 2023.
4) The Time Traveller’s Wife
The Time Traveler’s Wife is the debut novel by American author Audrey Niffenegger, published in 2003. This is the story about a Chicago librarian who suffers from a rare genetic disorder that causes him to drift uncontrollably back and forth through time.
The Time Traveler’s Wife showcases love, loss, relationships, and most importantly how we are bound to time. It is a love story between Clare and Henry. Clare meets Henry when she is 6 years old but Henry is from the future. Fourteen years later a beautiful girl walks into the library where Henry is working and claims she knows him very well. She also says that she is his future wife! As Henry keeps disappearing into the past and future, Clare does everything to save her love.
HBO has the first season with six episodes. The next season of ‘The Time Traveller’s wife” has been cancelled as stated by HBO.
5) Manifest
Manifest is about a mysterious plane that lands years after takeoff, the people onboard return to a world that has moved on without them and face strange new realities.
In this series, the time froze when they were in the air. A plane with 191 passengers and crew was flying from Jamaica to New York, and on the way, it experiences severe turbulence. When they land they surprisingly find out that they have been presumed dead for five and a half years. Their family is happy to reunite but they find many things have changed in this time period.
Manifest is available to watch on Netflix and currently, there are three seasons available. Manifest’s fourth and final season was released in November 2022.
6) Travelers
‘Travelers’ is one of the gripping shows based on science fiction and time travel. IThe show will you want to binge it as quickly as possible with its gripping plot.
The storyline is; hundreds of years from now, the last surviving humans discover the means of sending consciousness back through time, directly into people in the 21st century. They secretly work as a team to save humanity from the horrific future. Six of them have their own lives along with this secret mission. The show keeps you hooked up with its fast-moving, engrossing plot. Though there are a few flaws in the storyline there is no doubt that Travelers is purely entertaining.
Netflix has three seasons of Travelers and the fourth one has been canceled for unknown reasons.
7) Legends Of Tomorrow
If you are a fan of Disney comics then you will definitely love this one. A time-traveling rogue and a ragtag team of famous heroes and villains battle an immortal threat that could destroy not only Earth but all of time.
Legends of Tomorrow is a spin-off featuring characters introduced in Arrow and The Flash along with new characters, set in the Arrowverse. Time traveler rogue Rip Hunter has been given a new task. To prevent an apocalypse he has to recruit a rag-tag team of heroes and villains. This team has to stop the threat that is impacting both the earth and time.
Netflix has 7 seasons of Legends Of Tomorrow DC Show. The series officially ended after the cancellation of season 8.
8) Doctor Who
One of the classic and long-running British shows broadcasted in 1963. The series is listed in Guinness World Records as the longest-running science-fiction television series in the world, as well as the most successful science-fiction series of all time
Doctor Who depicts the adventures of a Time Lord. This doctor who looks like a human is an extraterrestrial being meaning he has an alien life. The doctor works for the people facing troubles and saves civilization as he explores the universe in his time traveling space ship TARDIS. He has stolen this ship from the planet of the Time Lords where he was staying before beginning this adventure. In the long history of this series, a total of 6 actors have played the role of a doctor.
All 13 seasons of Doctor Who are available to watch on HBO max. Season 14 is set to release in 2023 with Neil Patrick Harris as the new addition to the cast.
9) Timeless
Timeless is a historical science fiction highlighting historical facts with accuracy. To know the history you should watch Timeless. The show is comparatively dark and gets more violent at the end of the first season.
In Timeless, one of the organizations is trying to change history through time travel. A team of three Lucy Preston, Master Sergeant Wyatt Logan, and Rufus Carlin try to prevent it from happening. They have to travel back to critical events using the prototype of the state-of-the-art time machine which has been stolen.
Hulu has two seasons of Timeless. Season 3 has been canceled as per the latest update.
10) Lost
Looking for the best time travel show to binge-watch? Here it is. Lost on Amazon Prime is 6 seasons long and consists of a total of 121 episodes! This series has everything! Supernatural elements, science fiction, and time travel concept hence because of all these factors it is one of the best shows available on Amazon Prime video.
A flight flying from Sydney to Las Angeles crashes in between an island located somewhere in the South Pacific Ocean. From there the story unfolds focusing on the past, present, and future. There is a lot to see in the show so go for it if you love such dramas.
Lost is one of the greatest television series of all time known for its fast-paced, suspenseful, and surreal action. Seson 6 is the final episode of Lost.