Steven Moffat is undoubtedly best known for his contributions to the Doctor Who revival. He served as a writer and later showrunner for the beloved time travel series, only leaving it behind at the end of Season 10. Moffat as showrunner and Peter Capaldi as the Doctor left Doctor Who at the same time, and a big question was what series Moffat would work on next. Well, now we know, and it just so happens that his next series will also be a time travel drama. Moffat is on board for the HBO adaptation of The Time Traveler's Wife.
It may be time travel, but it won't be the same kind of time travel Steven Moffat handled over the years on Doctor Who! Based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler's Wife was a hot property on the TV market. Multiple outlets were interested in the project, including Amazon. Deadline reports that HBO has given The Time Traveler's Wife a straight-to-series order.
The series is written by Steven Moffat and will tackle a marriage between two star-crossed lovers, one of whom just so happens to be afflicted with time travel that yanks him through time against his will and at very inconvenient times. In the novel, the dashing librarian Henry DeTamble has a genetic disorder that sends him through time, which poses a problem for Clare Abshire. Clare is an artist who falls madly in love with him and therefore must learn to live with the time travel issue if she wants to continue her relationship with him. The love between them is strong enough to endure throughout time, and their romance ranges from heartwarming to heartbreaking.
The series based on the novel only just received the series order from HBO, so details are scarce about how closely the show will follow the events of the book. That said, Steven Moffat has spoken out about his love for Audrey Niffenegger's novel, even writing an episode of Doctor Who as "a direct response to it." In that episode, the Doctor travels through time to 18th century France, meets a young girl, then returns to her life years later when she's an adult. The Doctor and Madame de Pompadour didn't exactly engage in the same sort of passionate affair as Henry and Clare, but the similarities between the episode and The Time Traveler's Wife were easy to spot.
Steven Moffat is on board the series as executive producer as well as writer. This show comes nearly a decade after ABC attempted to launch a TV project of its own, although that never happened. We'll have to wait and see how the TV adaptation compares to the movie adaptation, which starred Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams. No premiere date or casting news has yet been announced. HBO has found success with adapting books for TV shows in the past, with Game of Thrones at the forefront. The Time Traveler's Wife is unlikely to be the next Game of Thrones -- that honor is held for the spinoff -- but it could be a success along the lines of Big Little Lies. We'll have to wait and see.
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