Time Traveler's Wife Sky Atlantic
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The Time Traveler’s Wife: Sky Atlantic’s adaptation vs the book

Theo James and Rose Leslie star in the new adaptation

The Time Traveler’s Wife is the gift that keeps on giving – after the brilliant book comes this new adaptation on Sky Atlantic.

Audrey Niffenegger’s 2003 novel was THE book of that year.

It became a bestseller, and won several important awards.

Now Doctor Who and Sherlock writer Steven Moffat has adapted the book for TV.

But is the series the same as the book?

Here’s everything you need to know!

***Warning: spoilers from The Time Traveler’s Wife ahead***

The Time Traveler's Wife on Sky Atlantic
The Time Traveler’s Wife follows the intricate and magical love story between Clare and Henry (Credit: Sky Atlantic)

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Is The Time Traveler’s Wife on Sky Atlantic the same as the book?

The Time Traveler’s Wife on Sky Atlantic is based on the beloved bestselling book by Audrey Niffenegger.

Fans of the book will know that the storyline follows the intricate and magical love story between artist Clare Abshire, and Henry DeTamble.

Henry is a librarian who is cursed with the ability to travel time – caused by chrono-displacement-disorder.

While many of us dream of being able to do just that, Henry’s problem is that he is unable to control when he is hurled from one time zone to another.

He vanishes, only to awake stark naked somewhere else (there’s a lot of bum in the TV series).

In the drama, Henry tells us: “Time travel is not a super power, it’s a disability – it’s what’s wrong with me.”

The quite frankly elaborate and bizarre plot works perfectly inside the pages of a book.

And, seriously, the novel is brilliant.

The series is six episodes and struggles to do the book justice.

Like dozens of adaptations before it, the televised adaptation lacks the depth and detail.

And our imagination can always deliver more than a TV set.

Essentially, The Time Traveler’s Wife is fantasy, which is often hard to translate onto TV.

The story of The Time Traveler’s Wife – a science-fiction romance spanning decades – is basically extremely tricky to adapt.

What’s the difference between the book and the TV series?

The main difference between the TV series and the book is the modern day elephant in the room…

In the book, and the series, Henry and Claire first meet when she is six and he is 36.

But critics have found these scenes uncomfortable – as Henry is a naked adult man and Clare is still a child.

In fact, the fact that Henry could be “grooming” Clare is even hinted at in episode one.

Henry meets a young Clare when she is brushing the mane of her pet horse, and he appears to actually flinch at the word “grooming”.

A problem that wasn’t perceived as an issue in the novel nearly 20 years ago.

Another difference is Henry’s sickness.

Every time he time travels, he vomits.

A 28-year-old Henry tells a seven-year-old Henry the first time he time travels: “There’s a trash can in front of you.

“In a minute, you’re going to be sick.”

Time travelling causes Henry to be hungry in the book, but being sick is not part of the plot.

Of course, there was also a 2009 film based on the book, but it was not well received perhaps proving the book is a tough one to adapt.

Theo James as Henry and Rose Leslie as Clare in The Time Traveler's Wife
Theo James as Henry and Rose Leslie as Clare in The Time Traveler’s Wife (Credit: Sky Atlantic)

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How is The Time Traveler’s Wife book different to the TV series?

Another big change between The Time Traveler’s Wife TV series and the book is the structural change.

The series opens with Henry and Clare recording videos of themselves speaking directly to camera about their relationship to time travel.

This framing device isn’t in the novel.

Also, the TV version of The Time Traveler’s Wife takes place from the 1990s to the present day.

Whereas the novel takes place from the 1960s to the early 2000s.

Another big change between the book and the TV series is Clare’s reaction to finding out Henry has a girlfriend in the first episode.

Clare finds Ingrid’s toiletries in Henry’s bathroom and fights with him, calling him an “asshole”.

She storms out of his apartment.

In the book, Clare’s reaction to seeing Ingrid’s stuff isn’t so explosive.

She thinks: “Whoever you are, I’m here now.

“You may be Henry’s past, but I’m his future.”

Writer Steven Moffat has also allowed parts of Henry’s body – such as his baby teeth – to time travel separately.

In episode one, Henry time-travels with a pool of blood and a pair of detached feet.

According to the HBO adaptation of The Time Traveler’s Wife, every part of Henry’s body is able to travel through time under its own power.

Henry tells Clare his nail-clippings time travel, and he seems to be keeping his hair long because he’s tired of having haircuts that follow him home.

The individual parts of Henry’s body do not travel independently in the book.

Are the endings the same? Does Henry die in the book?

When Henry is 43, he time travels to a Chicago parking garage on a frigid winter night where he is unable to find shelter.

As a result of the hypothermia and frostbite he suffers while sleeping in the parking garage, his feet are amputated when he returns to the present time.

Both Henry and Clare know that without the ability to escape when he time travels, Henry will certainly die within his next few jumps.

On New Year’s Eve 2006, Henry time travels into the middle of the Michigan woods in 1984 and is accidentally shot by Clare’s brother, a scene foreshadowed earlier in the novel.

Henry returns to the present and dies in Clare’s arms.

HBO’s The Time Traveler’s Wife episode one ended with a dramatic hint at Henry’s fate as he looked at his own severed feet.

This is actually a more faithful adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger’s novel, where towards the end of his life Henry was transported into a blizzard.

The Time Traveler’s Wife episode one confirms it will follow this arc, because the oldest Henry – the one recording video messages – is revealed to be sitting in a wheelchair when he time travels at the end of the episode.

We can’t talk about the TV series without mentioning the cast – Game of Thrones and Vigil star Rose Leslie stars as Clare, while Sanditon’s Theo James is Henry.

Yep, that makes two Brits playing Americans!

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The Time Traveler’s Wife starts on Monday May 16 2022 at 9pm on Sky Atlantic/Now.

Are you a fan of the book The Time Traveler’s Wife? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.


Helen Fear
TV Editor