5 Great Sci-Fi TV Shows About Time Travel That Are on Netflix

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Time travel remains one of the most captivating ideas in science fiction. The thought of escaping the normal flow of time – whether to experience the past again or see what’s to come – connects with our fundamental hopes and anxieties about decisions, fate, and how our choices impact us. It’s easy to see why writers use time travel as a way to examine difficult philosophical ideas while also telling incredibly imaginative stories. The genre is remarkably versatile, allowing for everything from large-scale adventures to deeply personal stories, and it continually finds fresh approaches to surprise audiences and redefine itself for each new generation.

The way many TV shows are made for streaming services has turned out to be ideal for telling time travel stories. Streaming platforms, such as Netflix, now attract creators who want to build complex, lengthy narratives that really capture viewers’ interest and offer rewarding, detailed storylines. The most successful of these shows utilize time travel as a core element to investigate the complexities of human relationships, emotional pain, and the ongoing debate about whether our lives are predetermined or if we have genuine choice, making them a must-watch for fans of science fiction. These shows truly deserve your full attention, offering a deep dive into compelling themes. It’s a golden age for time travel on TV.

5) The Lazarus Project

The British thriller The Lazarus Project offers a fresh perspective on the time loop idea, taking it to a worldwide level. The story follows George (Paapa Essiedu), an ordinary app developer who realizes he’s one of the few people who can remember when time is reset. He’s quickly brought into the Lazarus Project, a secret group with the ability to rewind time to a specific point whenever the world is facing total destruction. While this power lets them prevent global disasters, each reset comes with significant ethical and personal consequences for those involved.

I’ve been completely hooked by The Lazarus Project because it takes this huge, mind-bending sci-fi idea and makes it feel incredibly personal. When something terrible happens to George, he’s put in this impossible situation – does he accept a devastating loss, or does he turn against the organization that’s dedicated to saving the world, all to try and save the person he loves? That conflict is what really powers the show, making it a really tense look at how far people will go, the compromises they’ll make, and how power can corrupt. Honestly, the only reason The Lazarus Project doesn’t rank higher for me compared to other time-travel sci-fi shows is that it was cancelled after just two seasons, and we never got to see the full story play out.

4) The Umbrella Academy

At its heart, The Umbrella Academy is a superhero story, but time travel is the driving force behind everything that happens. The series centers on the Hargreeves siblings – a group of superpowered individuals adopted as babies by a quirky billionaire. As adults, they come back together and constantly struggle to stop the end of the world. This is especially hard because their own mistakes with time travel often *cause* the problems they’re trying to fix. Their journeys through time send them to different eras, where they have to adapt to new surroundings while also being pursued by those who want to protect the timeline.

The Umbrella Academy doesn’t focus on the science of time travel so much as using it to tell a dramatic and often funny story about its characters. While time travel is involved, the details of how it works aren’t always important; the show is more interested in the Hargreeves siblings’ feelings and adventures. However, the danger of creating paradoxes that could destroy the world creates intense pressure, forcing these flawed heroes to deal with their past hurts and long-held grudges in uniquely strange and visually interesting ways.

3) Travelers

Travelers presents a realistic take on time travel, focusing on firm rules and difficult ethical choices. The show takes place far in the future, with the last of humanity sending their minds back to the 2000s. These “Travelers” inhabit the bodies of people who are already destined to die, taking over their lives to complete tasks aimed at stopping a future societal breakdown. The team, headed by FBI agent Grant MacLaren (Eric McCormack), must adjust to their new identities while secretly trying to change what’s to come.

What makes the show so good is its attention to the people involved and the complex planning behind everything that happens. Every episode features a new task, giving the series a familiar structure while also examining the moral difficulties of what the Travelers are doing. The characters are always struggling to reconcile their goals of saving the world with the personal lives they’ve been given, which creates a lot of tension. Travelers is an intelligent, character-driven show that uses its unique science fiction idea to tell a story about giving up things for the greater good, figuring out who you are, and the silent pressure of protecting a world that isn’t even aware it needs saving.

2) Russian Doll

Initially, Russian Doll seems like a funny, but somewhat grim, twist on the familiar time loop story. The show centers around Nadia Vulvokov (Natasha Lyonne), a sarcastic software engineer who keeps repeating the same night – her 36th birthday party. Whenever she dies, whether it’s an accident or intentional, she immediately restarts in the party’s bathroom. She tries to figure out how to break free using her intelligence and a tendency towards risky behavior, which makes for a story that’s both funny and captivating.

As I got further into the series, it became clear this wasn’t just a fun, quirky show – it was something really deep and meaningful. The whole time loop wasn’t just a clever story trick; it felt like a powerful way of showing how trauma and addiction can trap you, and how incredibly hard it is to break those patterns. When Nadia realizes she’s not the only one stuck in this loop and meets Alan (Charlie Barnett), who’s going through the same thing, it completely changes the show. It becomes this amazing look at human connection and how we can help each other heal. Ultimately, Russian Doll brilliantly uses its sci-fi idea to explore how we grow as people, and that’s what makes it one of the most inventive shows on Netflix, in my opinion.

1) Dark

The German series Dark is a truly exceptional show and remarkably complex in its storytelling. It all starts in the small town of Winden, where the vanishing of a child triggers a series of events, bringing to light the troubled connections and hidden truths of four families. The puzzle quickly becomes incredibly complicated when a cave system under the town’s nuclear plant is discovered to contain a wormhole, enabling travel to different points in time.

Dark truly captivates viewers who give it their full attention, and it repays that focus with a brilliantly constructed story where even the smallest details are important. The show unfolds across a complex timeline filled with paradoxes and family connections that don’t always make sense, prompting big questions about fate and free will. Instead of avoiding these challenges, Dark embraces them, creating a story where the past, present, and future are all interconnected and unavoidable. Plus, the show’s dark and moody tone, relatable characters, and shocking twists combine to make an incredible and memorable viewing experience-it’s arguably the best example of long-form science fiction storytelling available.

What other Netflix shows about time travel do you consider must-sees? Share your thoughts in the comments below and become part of the discussion now in the ComicBook Forum!

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2025-10-02 23:18