The show follows a group of "travelers," the last surviving humans who transport their consciousness back in time*from the future to the 21st century. They assume the lives of ordinary people and have to adopt their lifestyles as well as try to further their cause, which is to save humanity from a terrible future. Though the show is definitely science fiction, we won't be seeing any grandiose appearances from space intruders*or the like, says Brad Wright: "I wanted to do something that didn't have any rubber-faced, English speaking aliens in it for a long time, and I just wanted to do something different and something contemporary ...*Something very much in the here and now that was still strongly thematic with all the science fiction themes that I love writing about."*
The show was inspired by social media, and how who we are in the real world doesn't always translate to who we project online. "For the last 10 or 15 years we have been putting ourselves out there on social media, and we have an identity that we put out there that isn't necessarily the real one ... That identity and that information is part of the historical record," says Wright. "Well learn, in going forward, is how imperfect social media is as a record of what happens," star Eric McCormack elaborated, hinting at how much the theme plays into the plot of the show.*
The characters we meet have traveled into the past to save humanity, but what else do we know? Not much, says McCormack: "He (Brad)*is very good at doling out the information which will make it a great series because you dont get everything upfront. But the reason were here is that the future is not so great."*
Though the plot remains clouded in secrecy and suspense, we do know quite a bit about the cast and production. "We're all Canadian top to bottom", says Brad, "Its also very Canadian in how it was developed. It was developed at the Canadian Film Center with a group of writers who are all Canadian and all brand new to the business and theyre with us here tonight ... my rule is I always look here first. Its not like we say 'were just hiring Canadians.' We look here first and we found everybody we needed right here in Canada and thats a wonderful thing."*
Season one is just one big exciting rollercoaster, says Brad: "We have an arc for all of season one that ramps up. In fact, episodes 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 are just a ride. It just builds. It is one big story. But I think of it as sort of a hybrid in the sense that I don't like punishing a viewer who misses a couple of episodes."*