Time Riders
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Time Riders
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| Episodes: | 4 |
| Year: | 1991 |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Seasons: | 1 |
| Seasons Breakdown: | (1) 4 |
| Category: | Time Travel |
| Colour: | Yes |
| Format: | Series |
| Company: | Thames Television |
| Creator: | Jim Eldridge |
| Run Time (mins): | 22 |
| Language: | English |
| Type of Show: | Live Action |
| Status: | Ended |
| Broadcaster: | ITV |
| First Aired: | October 16, 1991 |
| Last Aired: | November 6, 1991 |
Summary
Time Riders is a four‑part children’s adventure serial featuring Haydn Gwynne as Dr B. B. Miller, an eccentric scientist engaged in experimental time‑travel research. Rather than employing a conventional vehicle, Miller’s journeys into the past are initiated via a modified 750cc Yamaha motorcycle, whose departure sequence, complete with a fiery trail, deliberately echoes the cinematic imagery of Back to the Future.
Working independently under a grant from the Ethereal Research Foundation, Miller frequently clashes with her inflexible superior, Professor Crow, who seeks to reassign her laboratory to what he deems "proper scientific research." Undeterred, Miller dispatches a motorcycle helmet through time to the year 1834, targeting the courthouse that once occupied the site of her present‑day laboratory. When the helmet returns, it is accompanied by Ben, a young Victorian street urchin who had been moments away from receiving a death sentence for theft.
After rescuing Ben from Professor Crow, who intends to use the boy as a research subject, Miller and her companion travel back to 1645, where they become entangled in the events of the English Civil War. Pursued as fugitives and ultimately condemned as witches, they escape to the present only moments before their execution. Throughout the narrative, Miller maintains an unwaveringly optimistic disposition despite the dangers she encounters.
The series incorporates elements of humour, adventure, and eccentric characterisation, including appearances by James Saxon and Julie T. Wallace as an unhinged aristocratic pair. However, the tonal mixture failed to achieve sustained cohesion, and Time Riders concluded after a single series.
Cast
Dr B. B. Miller HAYDN GYNNE, Prof Crow CLIVE MERRISON, Hepworth KERRY SWALE, Judge BRINLEY JENKINS, Ben Hardy KENNETH HALL, Leather Hardbones IAN MCNIECE, Captain PAUL BOWN, Prisoners GABRIELLE HAMILTON, Prisoners HARRY JONES, Lord Chalmerston JAMES SAXON, Lady Chalmerston JULIE T. WALLACE, Matlock ARNOLD BROWN, Witchfinder General GAVIN RICHARDS.
Tags: Time Travel, United Kingdom, 1991, English
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