BBC & A24’s ‘The Ministry Of Time’ Set To Begin Filming Later This Year

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The long-awaited adaptation of ‘The Ministry Of Time’ is finally moving forward, with the BBC and A24 preparing to roll cameras later this year.

The project, based on Kaliane Bradley’s bestselling sci-fi romance novel, was first announced back in 2024 and then seemed to slip quietly into the temporal void. Now, BBC drama boss Lindsay Salt has confirmed production is gearing up to begin, bringing one of the most talked-about recent genre debuts a step closer to the screen.

For anyone unfamiliar with the novel, ‘The Ministry Of Time’ blends science fiction, romance and sharp state-of-the-nation commentary. The story follows a newly established government department that quietly gathers “expats” from across history as part of an experiment to test the viability of time travel. Among them is Commander Graham Gore, an officer from Sir John Franklin’s ill-fated 1845 Arctic expedition, rescued from certain death and dropped into the modern world.

He is not alone. The department also brings forward an army captain from the Somme, a plague victim from the 1600s, a widow from revolutionary France, and a seventeenth-century soldier. Each must adjust to contemporary Britain while the experiment raises increasingly complex ethical, political and emotional questions. At its core, it is as much about identity, belonging and power as it is about paradoxes and polar ice.

The TV adaptation is being written by Alice Birch (Normal People), which is an inspired pairing. Birch has a knack for intimate, character-driven drama that quietly devastates you, and that feels perfectly aligned with Bradley’s mix of romance and existential unease. The book itself was widely praised for its voice and originality, so expectations are understandably high.

Lindsay Salt revealed she moved quickly to secure the rights before the novel was even published, describing it as a way of doing “state of the nation” drama that feels fresh and vibrant while still having something substantial to say. That ambition, combined with A24’s involvement as producer and distributor, suggests this will lean into its prestige drama credentials rather than straightforward genre spectacle.

Casting has not yet been announced, meaning speculation over who will take on the unnamed civil servant protagonist and the quietly compelling Commander Graham Gore can officially begin. Given the scale of the source material’s success, those roles are likely to attract serious interest.

With filming set to begin later this year, this is shaping up to be one of the BBC’s most intriguing genre dramas in development. Smart sci-fi with a romantic core and a distinctly British bureaucratic twist is not something we get every season.

‘The Ministry Of Time’ does not yet have a premiere date but will air on the BBC in the UK. If you want to keep track of this or any other shows, you can add them via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when it gets a UK premiere date. Visit Never Miss.