Are ‘Timeless’ and Spanish show ‘El Ministerio del Tiempo’ really the same show?

Two countries, one premise, two very similar shows...

Some of you may have heard about the new time-travelling show Timeless, AKA the latest network sci-fi that will probably get cancelled too soon [or too late, depending on how you choose to look at it].

The show follows the adventures of an unlikely trio who travel back in time to prevent the baddies from changing history.

Cool original premise, right? Well…

As it turns out, for the past two years there has been a Spanish TV series, “The Time Ministry” (El Ministerio del Tiempo)  that follows the adventures of an unlikely trio who travel back in time to prevent the baddies from changing history.

And yes… you guessed it, there is a law-suit out there.

I’ve seen several Spanish articles comparing both shows, but I doubt anyone State side actually watched The Time Ministry. But I did!

This is not a “who did it better post”, rather a “how similar are they really?”

The premise

As we have established, the basic premise for both shows is virtually identical. However if you go in a littler deeper, there are a few differences.

For instance, Timeless uses an egg shaped time-traveling machine, while The Time Ministry uses “time doors” with the help of a decoder notebook [although there is also a mobile app].

There are several other details that differ from one show to the other and the “time-trips” have had nothing in common so far, but the basic concept is the same. The Americans have so far traveled back to the Alamo, met Kennedy’s mistress and watched Abraham Lincoln die. In turn, the Spanish had trips where they met classic figures of their history like Lope de Vega and Cervantes; plus Diego Velazquez [who you might know because he painted this] is a recurring character.

The Characters

The girl

On both versions the female character is the smartest and most knowledgeable of the bunch [yay girl-power, I suppose]. Lucy is a college history professor. Amelia is a student with genius level intellect. This is particularly impressive since Amelia comes from the 19th century.

That’s something that The Time Ministry did differently [and cleverly]. The main characters come from different time periods. On Timeless they are all from our time.

The Soldier

True to the tropes of the genre, both shows have a character that fulfills the purpose of being “the muscle” of the crew. On Timeless he is a former [very good-looking] soldier, who lost his wife. The Time Ministry has a colorful character - Alonso de Entrerrios - a soldier from the 16th century who has a hard time adjusting to the modern times.

Timeless cast Matt Latner on this role, so I’m assuming he will also be the romantic lead at some point. [He’s way too pretty to not get some at some point].

The Scientist

Timeless has Rufus Carlin, the scientist of the group who worked on developing the original time-machine. There isn’t a direct equivalent on The Time Ministry. The third character on the Spanish show is Julian - a former paramedic who… coincidentally lost his wife in an accident a few years ago… just like the Matt Latner character.

The characters fit popular archetypes often used in genre fiction, but I have to admit, they are very similar [at least on the surface].

Finally, let’s talk about...

The tone

And this is where the shows are wildly different.

Judging by tone alone, these shows have barely anything in common. The Time Ministry is a fun show that uses satire quite effectively. Don’t get me wrong, all the character development and intricate plot are there, but they keep things light and fun for the most part. Think about Doctor Who rather than Continuum.

Timeless, on the other hand, takes itself seriously and relies on the action/adventure element to hold the show. Expect gunfights, people chasing each other and things exploding. However [and this is my main complaint about Timeless] there aren’t a lot of scenes dedicated to characters and the relationships between them. But we are only a few episodes in.

So....

Are they really the same show?

From a legal standpoint, no clue, I won’t even attempt to make a comment. If I learned something on my media law class, it was that this copyright suits are extremely complex. So I will leave that to the lawyers.

As a viewer, I’d say they are very similar on the surface, but not really the same show once you start watching. In other words, they are different enough that you can watch both without getting bored [and that’s what I intend to do].

I’m only sad because I REALLY wanted a proper adaptation of The Time Ministry and that’s probably not going to happen now. If you are a lover of sci-fi [and you speak Spanish], I would absolutely encourage you to watch The Time Ministry. It is an absolute treat!

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