Timeless -- Backstory
The premise is simple. Well, sort of.
It is the year 2984. Skyscrapers fill every available scrap of land, the class difference is gigantic, and the sea has engulfed a lot of the world, including most of Merrie England. This increased sea-space has brought back piracy to the seas, who steal from the factory-produced food cargo vessels (farming has become obsolete).
One of the foremost food-production companies is Nutriware Ltd, which loses thousands upon thousands every year because of pirates. They're already pretty rich, but still, they're peeved. Its director-in-chief, Horatio Newson, has come up with a plan: to send his black ops team back in time to kidnap Lord Edward "the Hangman" Ashdown, who destroyed the old-time pirates of the 1600s with an iron fist. Which, to everyone's surprise, they actually manage to do.
After several episodes of culture-shock and various obstacles to overcome (including the kidnapping of Lord Ashdown's ludicrously vain and fiery wife to get him into line), a plan begins to form. But it's not neat, and it's not pretty-- and to nobody's surprise, it all begins to get a little bit silly. The devious Edward Ashdown makes many personal discoveries and abandons working for Newson in order to have a whale of a time in the future, irritating his supposed superior rather a lot. Things only escalate from there, until the whole thing comes to a head in a massive sea battle featuring a host of characters from past and future.
There are more characters-- the heartless yet endlessly entertaining Adele Merritt, Newson's PA; Cooper Braun, a modern-day pirate; Pia Rees, a prostitute from the lower levels; Robyn Walshe, military powerhouse leader of the black ops team; and Isaac Prowse, Ashdown's right-hand man who follows him to the future. But you'll hear more on them later.
character list | index
THE TL;DR VERSION OF THE PLOT