Crime Traveller (1997) User Reviews

Shame only one season

[johngraham1964 · 8/10 · 21 December 2013]

I really liked Crime Traveller. OK it's not perfect. Morris (the policeman with no brain cells) was an awful character who would never have been tolerated by Grisham (the boss). And the young chap was just superfluous. So.... take them out and what have we got? Grisham as the hard-nosed detective (ably played by Sue Johnston - just needed a few better lines for her) and a great double act, the 'willtheywon'tthey?' pairing of Holly and Slade.

What makes the programme work though is the concept of time travel. Just a few hours back but enough to pick up clues to a crime and even interview the deceased before they were murdered! Of course you can't change anything but you can come back to the present and wrap the case up.

The show was a light drama with comedy elements (which were mostly un-needed) and, as other reviewers have noted, it was pushed aside by Jonathan Creek (which I also have a fondness for). It's a shame there wasn't room for both shows. Or at the very least a second series of this one. Over the 8 episodes the characters of Holly and Slade did get developed as you found out more about Slade's past and his father etc. and Holly's father and her first boyfriend. It was a lovely touch to find a fully perfected time machine (without all the exposed wires and toggle switches) in the last episode and a nastily visual rendering of what happens if the machine goes wrong and traps your ex boyfriend in an eternity loop! Oh and for us fans of another time travelling show the visual and musical nod in the episode with all the phone boxes....and one police box!

I agree that the show could be brought back. Maybe, as suggested elsewhere, after years have passed while Holly has scrimped and saved to repair the machine after a catastrophic failure and now Slade comes back into her life. I doubt it will happen and if it did they would have to dump the comedy policemen but - well, in science fiction anything is possible.

Modestly enjoyable crime drama / sci-fi combination

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 14 September 2015]

"Crime Traveller" is a clever little TV show with two likable leads: its main problem is that it's clever in always the same, somewhat self-defeating way. It operates under the concept of time-travelling as a closed loop, in which you can't change the past, and whatever you do trying to change it is already embedded into the past. This limits the possibilities of the show, and after a while the pattern of its twists becomes familiar: when some "unknown figures" are present and/or run from the scene of the crime, it will be one or two of the leads. And then there is the huge plot hole of them having to return to the time machine at the exact same moment they began their "trip", but their "earlier" selves are never there! A few years later, another show came and combined time-travelling with mystery-solving in considerably more open and exciting ways; it was called "Tru Calling", and was also cancelled prematurely. I could see "Crime Traveller" continuing, but sooner or later it would have to break free(er) from its self-imposed limitations (edit: after watching an interview with the show's creator Anthony Horowitz, which is included as a DVD extra, I think he agrees with me!). **1/2 out of 4.

A nice bit of harmless fun

[owenthomas-88351 · 7/10 · 4 May 2020]

The acting isn't great and there's an occasional predictable plot point but overall it's an enjoyable program and definitely worth a watch, especially for sci/fi fans.

Great Show Bring it Back!

[Cloudfish · 7 March 2006]

OK I know this show had more holes than my knitting, but I loved it. I bought it recently on DVD, expecting to be a bit disappointed, but really enjoyed it. It has a quaint charm and energy all of its own. When it was originally broadcast sci-fi was an outdated genre, but is now firmly back on the map thanks to Dr Who and the like. Surely the BBC could risk giving this show another chance? Even the writer and creator Anthony Horowitz, has called it the one that got away. It was limited by its own time travel concept, but since Holly is a science officer, all she needs to do is invent a way of returning and they could get involved in crimes throughout history. Imagine them witnessing Jack the Ripper, or planting clues to get the Yorkshire Ripper caught. Go on Anthony and the BBC, give it one more try.

Dr. Who meets Murder She Wrote

[dmholloway-18633 · 6/10 · 19 June 2022]

I watched this during its original run when i was 11. It caught my eye as I'd seen Chloë Annette in Red Dwarf and was keen to see a new British Sci-fi series, and i use the term Sci-fi loosely.

Quantum Leap had shown that you can have excellent storylines that have nothing to do with time travel and yet have time travel as the backdrop to the show.

Crime Traveller tries to do a similar thing with each episode revolving around a homicide case to which, after initial investigations, the two main characters, Turner and Slade, travel back in time to solve the murder. Most of the time they get mixed up in the events and contaminate crime scenes.

It's basically a detective program. A 'who done it'.

Unfortunately, Crime Traveller falls victim to its own premise and writing. Most time travel shows often have certain rules that must be followed to keep the universe from blowing up. Crime Traveller is no exception but the rules make no sense whatsoever.

For example, 1. You must return to the time machine at the point at which you left your own time.

2. You mustn't meet yourself.

But if you are going to the machine at the point you used it, you'd already be there.

3. You can't place a bet on a horse because the race hasn't happened yet so the result is unknown.

4. If you take a picture of a killer, when you return to the present, the picture will fade because in that time you never took the picture.

5. You can't change the past.

These rules are wildly contradictory. If the result of a house race can't be gambled on because the result hasn't happened yet, that would suggest the past can be altered. This would also lead to a murder potentially not happening.

In a particular episode Turner is suspected of murdering her own aunt because her fingerprints are at the scene because she travelled back there. Once it's determined she wasn't the killer, her inept police colleagues never question this evidence again.

Although the show takes huge liberties with storytelling in order to wrap the episodes up, it is mildly entertaining. I enjoy the gentle animosity between Turner and Slade and Slade does come out with some cracking one liners.

Give it a watch for some mild entertainment that isn't too taxing on the brain as long as you throw all time travel logic out the window.

It won't ruin your life if you don't watch it. You could always travel back in time and watch it again, as long as you don't video tape it because the tape will erase because you haven't watched it.

See, it makes no sense.

Revival please

[kris-gray · 9/10 · 8 March 2019]

I don't need to put a synopsis on here, others have already done that.

I enjoyed this show when it was broadcast, to my knowledge never repeated, I also own it on DVD and dig it out every so often. I never understood why there was never a second series but then SCI FI on UK TV always suffers because of minority interest 'Oh I don't like SCI FI so I won't bother to give it try' is the attitude most adopt, my wife included. So to pick holes in the science is absurd, like why does no one fall over when the Enterprise stops suddenly after travelling at 9 times light speed?

Time travel in itself has more plot holes than Blackburn Lancashire but it's fun people so instead of trying to point these plot wholes enjoy it!

OK Michael French is not the best actor but he did an ok job and the writing by Mr Horowitz who is responsible for so many fab series, oh more Foyle please, did a great job with the scripts.

After some of the dross we get served up with reality shows making stars out of people who have no talent whatsoever like the Kardashians, let's have a reboot of Crime Traveller.

Enjoyable

[never-right · 10/10 · 11 May 2020]

This programme was so enjoyable. I realise there was little scope for say 10 series, but having only 8 episodes is a tragedy.

Underrated Crime Sci Fi Series

[mammalman · 10/10 · 24 January 2012]

Crime Traveller was a great innovative series which had good story lines - a mixture of detective whodunit and sci fi time travelling. I have to agree that the acting (particularly by some of the minor characters) was laughably awful and that did detract from the enjoyment somewhat. The character of Morris was also terrible - a cardboard thin caricature of a bumbling, stupid cop. I'm not sure who decided that people who actually find him humorous. With a bit of tweaking this could easily be brought up to date and modern special effects and better actors in the minor roles would be sure to make this a hit. Bring it back - please!

Deeply Flawed Logic

[sickyhampton · 1/10 · 16 February 2017]

I love good science fiction and cleverly- written drama yet I'd never heard of this series until a few days ago. Having just finished watching all eight episodes from start to finish I am not remotely surprised that this has escaped my attention for so many years. This is the half-baked science fantasy of unthinking, gurgling nitwits combined with some of the more senile, soporific excesses of the worst episodes of Midsomer Murders.

Whoever conceived the "rules" of time travel in this series was probably better acquainted with the works of CS Lewis than HG Wells. There was either VERY little thought put into the fundamentally flawed logic and self-contradiction inherent in the whole premise or else the writers decided simply to ignore all the massive logical gaffs, not worry about the intelligence of the viewers at all and instead simply aim it like a laser at the kind of people who normally prefer a nice bit of Agatha Christie before hobbling to their stair-lifts. (Even the theme music would be better suited to an episode of Poirot or Miss Marple.)

For example; the rules of "Crime Traveller" time travel state that to run into oneself would be catastrophic, and yet because one needs to return to the time machine before the point at which one originally departed (to avoid being stuck in a 'loop of eternity') one is, therefore, absolutely GUARANTEED to run into oneself INSIDE THE TIME MACHINE every single time that the machine is used! (Think about it.) Another example. If one goes back in time and fills in a betting slip, or takes a photograph, or gets shot in the leg, according to "Crime Traveller" upon returning to ones own 'timeline' the betting slip and the photograph will become blank and the gunshot wound will disappear. And yet all the other things that one does while 'travelling' - such as leaving blood or fingerprints at a crime scene or winding up one's hysterically screeching menopausal boss - still inexplicably get our unimaginative heroes into hot water when they 'return'.

The supporting characters are ludicrous archetypal parodies played by actors who seem to be under the impression that they're in a sitcom, except nothing that they say or do is funny. And the lines written for the "straight" roles are so maddeningly hackneyed that To make this series fresh and witty for its audience you'd need a time machine to send it all back to the 1970's, which is presumably the last time the writer had ever worked or indeed watched television.

Maybe the series did travel back in time but didn't make it back to the machine and is now caught in its own stupid loop of eternity.

Why only 1 series? This programme was class

[murray-24 · 18 March 2004]

This is one off the BBC's most underrated shows. Sue Johnson is brilliant in this as Grisham, as are the two main characters Jeff Slade and Holly Turner. Slade is likeable for the viewer becaue he always pushes things that bit too far! Employing cheeky and rebellious methods to solve the crime. Wheras Holly is the down to earth (as much as you can be having a time machine hidden away!)and sensible one.

Although many people would point to the flaws in the 'time travel' aspect, the show is not a strict hard nosed drama. More a drama with comedy ailments, which, in turn allow us to bypass any such flaws.

In an era where the BBC have, by their own admission, struggled to find a good Saturday night show, why not bring this back? Several years on, and with the SAME CAST? I mean none of them Johnson aside have really been in anything else particularly successful after this. (Although French does appear in some other 'Sunday evening' prog)

They could start it up as if the machine had been tampered with and that it hasn't been used in the years since the programme was last aired. Possibly having the two characters have drifted apart, only to bump into each other and regurgitate the need for time travel.

There was much scope for other adventures in another series. Possibly having episodes where they were transported back further.....?

I would urge the BBC to seriously consider this.

The show was proceeded with Jonathan Creek, and you can see shades of it in this. However although Jonathan Creek is a good show, this was better, had more scope in another series.

Please get it back! A Saturday night hit beckons...

on DVD in Oz?

[stitch_groover · 17 June 2004]

I found this terrific little show about 4 years ago on cable TV and have never forgotten it. I would race home from work every afternoon just to catch it, and was really disappointed to find that so few episodes had been made. Yes it was far-fetched, but what SciFi isn't? Yes it was lightweight, but what's wrong with that? Not every show needs to be Law and Order Yes it required some concentration, but only a little. I don't care if the effects were good or bad, I enjoyed this show because the acting was good, I liked the relationship between the leads, and I've never been able to resist the dejavu of characters witnessing their own previous actions.

Jolly Good Time Travel Series

[cutterccbaxter · 7 March 2008]

I'm a sucker for time traveling. Not that I have ever done it personally, but boy is it fun to watch other people do it. In this series coppers Slade and Turner go back in time to help solve crimes. They can't stop the crime from happening nor can they stop Slade from wearing a mustard colored coat. Nevertheless this is a very entertaining time travel show in a light and fluffy way. Each episode is tweaked a little bit from the previous one, so it isn't as formulaic from episode to episode. Had the series lasted more than 8 episodes it would have been interesting to see how Anthony Horowitz would have continued to shape the show. The leads have nice chemistry. I thought the supporting characters were rather weakly rendered and wouldn't have minded seeing Grisham and Morris drive a squad car over a white cliff at Dover. And for good measure Robson should have been in the boot (that's what Englanders call a trunk in case you aren't from there) of that car as it smashed on the rocks below. I also would have liked to have seen Honeysuckle Weeks make a cameo in every episode cause she is totally groovy.

Detective show with a time travel twist

[javiner · 23 June 2002]

In this show it doesn't matter if there were no witnesses to the crimes as the detectives are able to travel back in time to watch it happen themselves (or try to stop it). The time travel paradoxes involved in the detective work adds a new dimension and makes this an interesting change to the usual detective show.

cool!

[thundersnow38 · 22 March 2002]

i thought this show was cool even though it was far fetched (well name a sci fi story that isnt!) but why discontinue it it was much better than some of the rubbish they put on now like changing rooms!)but imagine if that could really happen imagine the time and effot saved by the law enforcement!

The BBC do time-travel on a 15p budget!

[holly1979 · 3 October 2005]

Let's face it, the BBC just can't rival US companies for slick, high-concept TV. 'Crime Traveller' was one of those shows that should have been dreadful but was actually kind of good! It was a pretty ambitious undertaking to do a series about time-travel, and with talented writer Anthony Horowitz they did have a good crack at it. Okay, so the acting was a bit ropey (as so many BBC series seem to be), the secondary characters were virtual cardboard cut-outs, and the special effects were clearly influenced by Dr Who, circa 1970. But in Jeff Slade (Michael French) and Holly Turner (Chloe Annett) 'Crime Traveller' had endearing, compelling leads who you actually cared about. In some ways their relationship was obviously based upon the old Mulder & Scully will-they-won't-they idea, which would no doubt have been developed further if the show had been given a second series. Unfortunately, 'Jonathan Creek' came out about the same time, and there clearly wasn't room for two programmes about a male/female duo solving crimes in unconventional ways! The science behind the time-travel was probably a bit dubious, but I was quite happy to suspend my disbelief and just enjoy it for what it was. It was welcoming to see British TV trying something different and ambitious. Still not sure why they insisted on Jeff's trademark hideous mustard-coloured suede jacket though....

Good Concept, Bad acting

[jamie_leigh_abery · 4 June 2002]

This show had a good concept but the acting was just dire. Special effects, pah! My cat might have been able to do better! Seriously though, the show was pretty bad but had some funny lines. The idea was there but wasn't thought out properly and it could have done with a bit more research (and better actors). All in all a bad show with bad acting. Go watch it!

Not A BLAKE`S 7 Follow Up

[Theo Robertson · 19 April 2004]

In 1996 it was revealed in the press that actor Michael French ( Then a well known face due to his role in EASTENDERS ) would be starring in a BLAKe`s 7 follow up . It had been rumoured for years there was going to be a follow up show to Terry Nation`s classic space opera and looked forward to seeing if the BBC could recapture the magic of the original series . Unfortunately the BBC released a press statement saying the French star vehicle wasn`t anything to do with BLAKE`S 7 but was a totally original SF drama called CRIME TRAVELLER

I would have preferred a B7 spin off because CRIME TRAVELLER is a totally lightweight show , and it`s more of a crime series written to appeal for the whole family rather than to a sci-fi audience . Remember in the classic Terry Nation show the eponymous hero was framed for child molesting ? , well there`s no such type of dramatic shocks here as the main character uses time travel to solve crimes in much the way as Jonathan Creek uses his knowledge of magic to solve mysterious deaths , though to be honest TIME TRAVELLER lacks the intelligence of the latter .

In fact it`s difficult to think of this show as sci-fi . There is a good point brought up that if you go back in time and buy a lottery ticket for a future winning draw the numbers will fade away when you return to the present and that`s the only real nod to the concept of the Blinovitch limitation effect , elsewhere the show just follows the formula of a lightweight crime series and it`s no surprise it just lasted one season

And has anyone else noticed how every " star " from EASTENDERS has always ended up in a crime show after leaving the BBC soap opera ? We`ve seen Tamzin what`s her name star in REDCAP , Martin Kemp star in an ITV series about two detectives who are brothers , that bald geezer starring in the show about a crime fighting SAS unit , and Mark Fowler now changing his name to Gabriel Kent and joining THE BILL along with several other actors . The lack of ideas on British television is indeed criminal

what a poor show

[evonne19 · 7 January 1999]

This has to be one of the wost sc-fi programmes I have ever to watch. It has no plot, and there is also no character involvement with the cast at all. I am only glad it only lasted one series.