What if you could go back in time and prevent Hitler from being born, thereby preventing WWII and the holocaust? Could such a seemingly positive act have serious repercussions, possibly altering the course of history for the worse? Who hasn't enjoyed metaphysical discussion along these lines?
In Back There, engineer Pete Corrigan (Russell Johnson) inexplicably finds himself in the year 1865, shortly before the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Without thinking of the consequences of his actions, he tries to prevent John Wilkes Booth from killing the president, but fails to do so. When returned to the present day, he discovers that his attempts to change the past have indeed altered the course of history, if only a little.
I like a good time travel tale, with all of the potential paradoxes that tinkering with the past can present. Back There has fun with the concept, but it's far from perfect: if Corrigan wanted to save Lincoln, he certainly goes about it in the dumbest way imaginable, storming into a police station like a raving madman, trusting the complete stranger into whose custody he has been remanded (by an equally moronic police captain), and realising too late that he's been fooled by the very man he is trying to stop. What a numpty! Still, his stupidity is probably for the best, history remaining almost exactly as it was.
Corrigan's complete lack of common sense makes Back There a little tough to swallow - can a successful engineer really be that stupid? - but at least it's not another total schmaltz-fest like the show's preceding two episodes.
5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.
In Back There, engineer Pete Corrigan (Russell Johnson) inexplicably finds himself in the year 1865, shortly before the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Without thinking of the consequences of his actions, he tries to prevent John Wilkes Booth from killing the president, but fails to do so. When returned to the present day, he discovers that his attempts to change the past have indeed altered the course of history, if only a little.
I like a good time travel tale, with all of the potential paradoxes that tinkering with the past can present. Back There has fun with the concept, but it's far from perfect: if Corrigan wanted to save Lincoln, he certainly goes about it in the dumbest way imaginable, storming into a police station like a raving madman, trusting the complete stranger into whose custody he has been remanded (by an equally moronic police captain), and realising too late that he's been fooled by the very man he is trying to stop. What a numpty! Still, his stupidity is probably for the best, history remaining almost exactly as it was.
Corrigan's complete lack of common sense makes Back There a little tough to swallow - can a successful engineer really be that stupid? - but at least it's not another total schmaltz-fest like the show's preceding two episodes.
5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.