15 Imaginative British Period Dramas Featuring Timeslips

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Last Updated on August 3, 2026 by Stefanie Hutson

The British entertainment industry has a long history of making compelling timeslip stories. If you're not familiar with the concept, those are stories in which people inadvertently travel through time. Sometimes, it's caused by a place they walk or an item they touch – but other times, it's a traumatic event that kicks it off. That's in contrast to more “traditional time travel” where the time travel is intentional, often with the help of a spell or device. 

The boundary isn't always precise, though. Some characters eventually learn how to repeat a slip, while others find themselves caught in loops, parallel lives or supernatural connections between different eras. For this list, the important distinction is that the original crossing is accidental, involuntary or unexplained. Programmes and films built around deliberate journeys through history will be covered separately.

Below, we take a look at some of the best timeslip productions to come out of the UK (though some, we should note, are international co-productions). A few are older, so you won't be able to find them on any legal streaming services – but some have been released on DVD and others are…floating around for the intrepid Google-user to find.

Outlander (2014–26)

This one begins in 1945, when former military nurse Claire Randall visits the Scottish Highlands with her husband and is unexpectedly transported back to 1743 via a circle of ancient standing stones. Stuck in a dangerous time of clan rivalries and political unrest, she becomes entangled with Highlander Jamie Fraser while searching for a way back to her own life.

Caitríona Balfe (Belfast) and Sam Heughan (The Couple Next Door) lead the cast, with Tobias Menzies (The Crown), Sophie Skelton (Ren) and Richard Rankin (Rebus) in major roles. Based on Diana Gabaldon’s bestselling novels, the series continued filming extensively in Scotland even when the story moved to France and North America; the stones at Craigh na Dun were built for the production near Kinloch Rannoch.

Watch it: Outlander | Blood of My Blood (spin-off)

Life on Mars (2006–07) and Ashes to Ashes (2008–10)

Each of these classic BBC crime series follows a modern police officer who awakens in an earlier version of the UK after suffering serious injuries. In Life on Mars, Manchester detective Sam Tyler finds himself working in 1973 under the confrontational Gene Hunt. Ashes to Ashes moves the action to London in 1981, where psychologist and police officer Alex Drake encounters Hunt and several members of his former team.

John Simm (Doctor Who), Philip Glenister (State of Play), Keeley Hawes (Spooks), Dean Andrews (Last Tango in Halifax) and Marshall Lancaster (Coronation Street) play leading roles. Although both initially resemble accidental time-travel mysteries, their shared mythology gradually moves towards something a bit deeper and more philosophical (though we won't give you any spoilers). Their titles were taken from David Bowie songs closely associated with their respective periods, and the soundtracks for both are fantastic.

Watch them: Life on Mars | Ashes to Ashes

A Traveller in Time (1978)

This five-part BBC children’s series follows Penelope, a girl sent from London to stay with relatives at an old Derbyshire farmhouse. There, she begins slipping into the Elizabethan period and becomes involved with the Babington family’s plans to free Mary, Queen of Scots. Penelope can see the danger approaching but cannot easily convince the people around her that she knows how their story will end.

Sophie Thompson (Detectorists) made her television debut in the leading role, with Elizabeth Bradley (Coronation Street), Simon Gipps-Kent and Heather Chasen (Crossroads) among the cast. The serial was adapted from Alison Uttley’s 1939 novel, which drew partly from her memories of growing up in a Derbyshire farmhouse associated with the Babington family.

Watch it: A Traveller in Time

Lost in Austen (2008)

This playfully original four-part ITV series follows Amanda Price, a modern Londoner and die-hard Austenite. After discovering Elizabeth Bennet in her bathroom, Amanda steps through a concealed doorway and becomes trapped inside the world of the novel while Elizabeth remains in contemporary London. Her presence immediately disrupts the familiar plot, leaving her to repair relationships that no longer unfold as Austen wrote them.

Jemima Rooper (The Famous Five) stars as Amanda, with Elliot Cowan (The Spanish Princess) as Darcy, Gemma Arterton (Their Finest) as Elizabeth, Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) as Mr Bennet and Alex Kingston (Doctor Who) as Mrs Bennet. Several interiors and estate scenes were filmed at Cannon Hall near Barnsley.

Watch it: Lost in Austen

Tom’s Midnight Garden (1989)

This six-part BBC series follows Tom Long, a young boy sent to stay with his aunt and uncle after his brother gets measles. Their flat has no garden, but when the grandfather clock downstairs strikes thirteen, the back door opens onto the grounds of the house as they existed in the Victorian period. Tom befriends Hatty, a lonely girl who can see him even though he appears to be a ghost in her world.

Jeremy Rampling and Caroline Waldron play Tom and Hatty, with Shaughan Seymour (The Forsyte Saga), Isabelle Amyes (Sense and Sensibility) and Renée Asherson (Henry V) in the adult cast. Philippa Pearce’s original 1958 novel won the Carnegie Medal, while this adaptation used Chenies Manor House in Buckinghamshire for its historic garden and house.

Watch it: Tom's Midnight Garden

Moondial (1988)

This six-part BBC children’s series follows Minty Cane, who is sent to stay with her aunt after her mother is injured in a road accident. While wandering through the grounds of a nearby country house, Minty discovers that an old sundial allows her to enter two different periods. In the past, she meets Tom, an abused Victorian kitchen boy, and Sarah, a girl hidden from public view because of a facial birthmark.

Siri Neal and Tony Sands lead the young cast, supported by Jacqueline Pearce (Blake’s 7), Arthur Hewlett (The Black Adder) and Valerie Lush (And Mother Makes Three). Helen Cresswell adapted the series from her own novel, and much of it was filmed at Belton House in Lincolnshire. There was talk of a new adaptation back in 2020, but we've yet to see any public progress on this – so it's entirely possible the project has been abandoned or pushed back.

Watch it: Moondial

Catweazle (1970–71)

This ITV children’s comedy series begins when Catweazle, an eccentric magician living around the time of the Norman Conquest, attempts to escape pursuing soldiers by using magic. Instead, he accidentally propels himself into the 20th century, where modern technology appears to him to be a powerful form of sorcery.

Geoffrey Bayldon (Worzel Gummidge) plays Catweazle, with Robin Davies (Bless This House) and Gary Warren (The Railway Children) appearing as his young companions in the two respective series. Peter Butterworth (Carry On Camping) joined for the second series. Much of the first series was filmed around East Clandon in Surrey, where a water tower was constructed to serve as Catweazle’s makeshift home.

Watch it: Catweazle

Goodnight Sweetheart (1993–99; 2016)

This BBC sitcom follows television repairman Gary Sparrow, who takes a wrong turn down a London alley in 1993 and emerges in the East End during the Second World War. He initially has no idea how the passage works, but soon begins moving regularly between his present-day marriage and a second life centred on a Blitz-era pub.

Nicholas Lyndhurst (Only Fools and Horses) stars alongside Dervla Kirwan (Ballykissangel), Michelle Holmes (Rita, Sue and Bob Too), Victor McGuire (Bread) and Christopher Ettridge (The Brittas Empire). Sadly, there was a cast change part of the way through the series, and it was never quite the same after that, so be sure to take your time on those early episodes. Created by Laurence Marks and Maurice Gran, the programme frequently borrowed episode titles from popular songs. A 2016 special revisited Gary after years spent trapped on one side of the passage, and it answered a lot of questions people had for years.

Watch it: Goodnight Sweetheart

From Time to Time (2009)

This feature film follows Tolly, a boy sent to stay with his grandmother at her country house during the final months of WW2. There, he begins seeing people from the house’s past and discovers that he can enter their world as an unseen observer. His visits gradually reveal the story of a family secret, a missing jewel and an event that changed the household in the early 19th century.

Alex Etel (Cranford) stars alongside Dame Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey), Timothy Spall (Mr Turner), Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey), Pauline Collins (Shirley Valentine) and Carice van Houten (Game of Thrones). Julian Fellowes wrote and directed the film, adapting Lucy M. Boston’s novel The Chimneys of Green Knowe, with Athelhampton House in Dorset serving as the central home.

Watch it: From Time to Time

An Angel for May (2002)

This British television film follows Tom, a boy struggling with his parents’ separation. After following a stray dog into a ruined Yorkshire farmhouse, he unexpectedly passes through a fireplace and emerges during the Second World War. There he meets May, a traumatised young evacuee living with a farming family, and gradually realises that he may know enough about the future to prevent another tragedy.

A very young Matthew Beard (Vienna Blood) and Charlotte Wakefield (The Sound of Music Live) play Tom and May, with Tom Wilkinson (The Full Monty), Julie Cox (Children of Dune), Hugo Speer (The Full Monty) and Geraldine James (Anne with an E) in the adult cast. The ITV production was adapted from Melvin Burgess’s children’s novel and filmed in South Yorkshire.

Watch it: An Angel for May

The Georgian House (1976)

This seven-part ITV children’s series follows teenagers Dan and Abbie, who take jobs as guides at a restored Georgian house in Bristol. They suddenly find themselves in 1772, where they meet Ngo, an enslaved Black boy being kept at the property, and attempt to help him escape.

Spencer Banks (Timeslip), Adrienne Byrne, Brinsley Forde (The Double Deckers) and Jack Watson (The Wild Geese) lead the cast, with Janine Duvitski (One Foot in the Grave, Benidorm) appearing among the Georgian characters. The production was inspired by Bristol’s real Georgian House Museum, although the rooms were recreated as studio sets. Only three of the seven episodes are currently known to survive (and they're not always in great shape); the others are believed to have been wiped. You won't find it on any of the major, legal streaming services – but there are copies floating around the internet if you look. Given the incomplete state of the archived episodes, they're not great from an entertainment standpoint, but they're interesting from a TV history perspective. 

Last Night in Soho (2021)

This psychological horror film follows Eloise, an aspiring fashion designer who moves to London and rents a room in Soho. Each night, she begins entering the neighbourhood as it appeared during the 1960s, experiencing events through Sandie, a young singer attempting to establish herself in the chaotic world of London nightlife. What initially appears to be a glamorous escape becomes increasingly threatening as the distinction between memory, dream and physical reality weakens.

Thomasin McKenzie (Jojo Rabbit) and Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit, Endeavour) lead the cast, with Matt Smith (Doctor Who), Terence Stamp (The Limey), Rita Tushingham (A Taste of Honey) and Dame Diana Rigg (The Avengers). It was Rigg’s final completed film performance, and the production made extensive use of real Soho and West End locations.

Watch it: Last Night in Soho

Rose of Nevada (2025)

This creepy Cornish film begins when a fishing vessel that disappeared with its crew 30 years earlier suddenly returns to harbour. Two struggling young men join a new crew and take the restored boat out to sea, but when they return, they discover that the village has slipped back to 1993. This is the most recent entry on the entire list, and at time of writing, it's only available as a pre-order over on Amazon.

George MacKay (1917) and Callum Turner (Masters of the Air) star alongside Rosalind Eleazar (Slow Horses), Francis Magee (Kin) and Mary Woodvine (Enys Men). Cornish filmmaker Mark Jenkin wrote, directed, shot, edited and scored the film, continuing the handmade approach used for Bait and Enys Men. It was filmed entirely in Cornwall using working harbours, a functioning fishing vessel and Jenkin’s distinctive 16mm methods. The film premiered in 2025 before receiving its UK and Irish cinema release in April 2026.

Watch it: Rose of Nevada

Timeslip (1970–71)

This 26-part ITV children’s science-fiction series follows Simon Randall and Liz Skinner, who discover an invisible barrier near an abandoned military research station. Passing through it first takes them back to the station during the Second World War, but later slips lead to possible futures shaped by scientific experimentation, climate change and cloning.

Spencer Banks (The Georgian House) and Cheryl Burfield play Simon and Liz, with Denis Quilley (The Black Windmill), Derek Benfield (Hetty Wainthropp Investigates) and John Barron (The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin) in the adult cast. The programme was developed partly as ITV’s more everyday alternative to Doctor Who. Science-fiction writer Geoffrey Hoyle advised the production, and ITN science correspondent Peter Fairley introduced the opening episodes of its first two stories.

Watch it: Timeslip

The House in the Square (1951)

Released in the United States as I’ll Never Forget You, this British feature film follows American atomic scientist Peter Standish, who's living in an inherited house in London’s Berkeley Square. After a lightning strike, he unexpectedly finds himself in 1784 and is mistaken for an ancestor who had been expected to arrive from America. His knowledge of the future attracts suspicion, while his growing attachment to a young woman complicates the life history says he is supposed to follow.

Tyrone Power (The Mark of Zorro) stars with Ann Blyth (Mildred Pierce), Michael Rennie (The Day the Earth Stood Still) and Kathleen Byron (Black Narcissus), and the screenplay was based on John L. Balderston’s play Berkeley Square (which was loosely based on an incomplete Henry James novel, The Sense of the Past). The modern sequences were filmed in black and white, while the Georgian world appeared in Technicolor. We haven't seen this one on any of the usual streaming services, but if you check with Google, you can usually find a place to watch it.

 

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