Time Trax

Did You Know?

• The series was shot in Queensland, Australia, despite its Washington, D.C., setting.
• SELMA's holographic interface is based on a picture of Darien's mother.

Premise

In the year 2193, over a hundred criminals escape into the past using a time machine called Trax, traveling two hundred years to a parallel universe. Police detective Darien Lambert is sent back to 1993 to apprehend them. He is aided by SELMA, a powerful computer disguised as a credit card that communicates via a holographic interface. Lambert also carries a Micro-Pellet Projection Tube, disguised as a keyless car alarm remote, which can stun targets or envelop them in an energy field for transport to the future. Dr. Mordecai Sahmbi, who sent the fugitives to 1993, attempts to kill Lambert. Lambert avoids altering history but leaves messages for his colleagues through newspaper personals.

Cast

Dale Midkiff portrays Captain Darien Lambert, a police officer from the 22nd century born in 2160 and raised in Enclave I-6 Middle City, formerly Chicago Land. He possesses superior abilities: an IQ of 204, a speed memorization rate of 1.2 pages per second, a top speed of 8.6 seconds for 100 m, a heartbeat of 35 beats per minute, a life expectancy of 120 years, and mental focusing from beta wave training. He graduated first in his class from the International Police Academy at West Point. Elizabeth Alexander plays SELMA, an advanced AI disguised as a credit card, who communicates via voice and a holographic interface based on a picture of Lambert's mother. Peter Donat plays Dr. Mordecai Sahmbi, an MIT professor and Nobel Prize winner who created the TRAX time machine and sent criminals to the past. Mia Sara plays both Annie Knox, a Secret Service Agent, and Elyssa Knox, a prodigy who became Sahmbi's student and Lambert's love interest.

Production

Time Trax was created by Harve Bennett, Jeffrey M. Hayes, and Grant Rosenberg, with Rosenberg originating the idea. It was one of the first three original programs on the Prime Time Entertainment Network, alongside Kung Fu: The Legend Continues and Babylon 5, airing from January 20, 1993, to December 3, 1994. Despite viewer approval, the network cancelled the series to pursue a different direction. The show was filmed in Queensland, Australia, near Warner/Roadshow Studios, and was the last series to premiere under the Lorimar Productions name.

Video game

A video game based on the series was released for the Super NES in the U.S. by Malibu Games in April 1994, though some sources list December 1993. A Sega Genesis version was completed and reviewed but never released by the publisher; a fully finished prototype leaked in 2013. The Genesis version notably features a soundtrack composed by Tim Follin.