Time Bandits (2024 TV series)

Time Bandits is a ten-episode fantasy adventure comedy television series that premiered globally on Apple TV+ on July 24, 2024, reimagining Terry Gilliam's 1981 film of the same name for television. It was created by the New Zealanders Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi together with the British writer Iain Morris, and stars Lisa Kudrow as the leader of a band of time-traveling thieves who recruit an 11-year-old history buff named Kevin.^{1 • 2} Apple TV+ canceled the series after one season in September 2024.²

Relationship to the 1981 film

The source film, written by Monty Python members Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin and directed by Gilliam, concerns a boy named Kevin swept up with thieves who use a map to move through history.⁴ In the series, the creators deliberately avoided copying the original. Clement said that imitating Gilliam too closely would feel like plagiarism, so the writers built their version from the feeling of watching the film rather than its specific scenes.¹² Gilliam was originally attached to the project as an executive, but the writers never arranged a meeting with him, and despite rumors he was never on set or in New Zealand.^{12 • 13}

One announced change drew comment before release: the bandits, played by actors with dwarfism in the film, were cast with average-sized actors including Rune Temte, Tadhg Murphy, Roger Jean Nsengiyumva, and Charlyne Yi. Clement said one actor originally hired was a little person who left to stage a play in England rather than remain in New Zealand for the full production.¹⁴

Production

Filming in Wellington. The series was filmed in and around Wellington, New Zealand, between August 2022 and February 2023, under the codename Stonehenge.⁵ Stone Street Studios served as the production's home base, with second unit filming at Lane Street Studios. The Remutaka Hills stood in for the area around the Great Wall of China, the Cook Strait played island settings, and downtown Wellington doubled for urban environments including 1920s Harlem.¹ Production designer Ra Vincent's team built 120 sets over 100 production days, covering settings from ancient Mayan rituals to 1920s Harlem.¹ Clement described the pace as creating a new world every ten days.¹²

Virtual production. Because building physical sets for every era would have been expensive and logistically difficult in Wellington, the production made extensive use of virtual production, merging physical and digital environments in real time.¹⁵ The setup centered on a 22-meter diameter, 6-meter high LED stage built from approximately 2,000 Roe BP2V2 panels, with environments rendered in Unreal Engine and complex simulations such as Ice Age snow handled in Houdini. The team could switch entire environments in minutes; a Mayan suburb was overhauled into a busy village center in 45 minutes. Stonehenge, where on-site filming time and lighting equipment were limited, was scanned by photogrammetry into a 3D model integrated with digital backdrops.¹⁵

Directing and writing. Taika Waititi directed the first two episodes and Jackie Van Beek the third.¹⁶ Clement, Morris, and Waititi wrote and directed select episodes and executive produced alongside Garrett Basch, Jane Stanton for Handmade Films, and Tim Coddington.² Writing took place around the 2023 Hollywood strikes; Clement said the team anticipated a strike and changed dialogue referencing "2023" to "2024" as a precaution.¹⁷

Reception and cancellation

Critical response was generally favorable. On Rotten Tomatoes, season 1 holds a 75% Tomatometer from 52 reviews and a 50% Popcornmeter from more than 250 audience ratings; the critics' consensus said the reimagining swaps the film's eccentricity for a more family-friendly sensibility.⁶ The Los Angeles Times called it likable, lively, funny and fun, while advising viewers to set the film aside and accept the differences.¹⁸ The Guardian's review praised a confident, hilarious romp through history.¹¹ The season received 7 Emmy nominations.⁷

Apple TV+ canceled the series in September 2024, about a month after the finale, capping the run at 10 episodes.^{2 • 3} During the run, Variety's interview with showrunner Iain Morris also addressed allegations by cast member Charlyne Yi, who said they had been physically assaulted on set by a fellow actor.¹³

References

1. Time Bandits, New Zealand Film Commission
2. 'Time Bandits' Canceled After One Season at Apple TV+, Variety
3. Time Bandits Cancelled At Apple TV+ After One Season, TVLine
4. Apple TV+'s delightful 'Time Bandits' is much better than the film that inspired it, TPR
5. Time Bandits – HARDCORE SETS
6. Time Bandits: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes
7. SNZI Quarterly Report Q3 2025, The Production Pulse
8. Watch Time Bandits, Apple TV
9. Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement Say Monty Python "Helped Create" Their New Time Bandits, Mnnofa
10. 'Time Bandits' review, Chicago Sun-Times
11. Time Bandits review – the gloriously fun return of a fantasy classic, The Guardian
12. Jemaine Clement Didn't Want to 'Copy the Original' When Bringing 'Time Bandits' to TV, Variety AU/NZ
13. 'Time Bandits' Boss Talks Introducing a 'Lost Classic' to a New Audience and Addresses Charlyne Yi's Allegations, Variety AU/NZ
14. "Time Bandits" creators on their remake, Salon
15. BTS: Time Bandits 2024: A virtual production story, Televisual
16. Film crew CV listing Time Bandits episode directors, filmcrews.co.nz
17. Taika Waititi & Jemaine Clement on Time Bandits, Filmtopp
18. A reimagined 'Time Bandits' takes viewers on a delightful historical adventure, Los Angeles Times

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026

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