Time Trax

Premise

In the year 2193, over a hundred criminals become fugitives of law enforcement by traveling back in time two hundred years, using a time machine called Trax. Darien Lambert (Dale Midkiff) is a police detective of that period who is sent back to 1993 in order to apprehend as many of the fugitives as possible. He is assisted by the Specified Encapsulated Limitless Memory Archive, or SELMA (Elizabeth Alexander), an extremely small but very powerful computer (described as equivalent to a mainframe) disguised for the mission as an credit card and communicated through a holographic interface which takes the visual form of a prim young woman. Lambert is also equipped with an MPPT (Micro-Pellet Projection Tube) disguised as a keyless car alarm remote, which can stun targets or engulf them in an energy field, rendering them transportable to the future. This process, executed by SELMA, incorporates a transmission sequence to send the criminal on his way. Dr. Mordecai Sahmbi (Peter Donat), who was responsible for sending the fugitives to 1993, tries several times to kill Lambert.

Captain Lambert, fearing the possible consequences of altering the timeline, does not actively attempt to interfere with the natural flow of history, although he frequently leaves messages for his colleagues in 2193 (via the 'personals' sections of assorted newspapers). However, the series makes occasional allusions to a theory of parallel timelines, implying that time travelers go into an alternate past so that their actions there have no effect on the 2193 "present".

Opening narration

"It began in the future. A scientist turning to evil, a time machine called TRAX, criminals who vanish and a lawman with a mission. He has one weapon and a computer named SELMA."

SELMA: Good morning, Captain Lambert.

"With them he will travel to a time more innocent than his own. Now he is among us. A special breed of man, a hunter, travelling through our world searching for fugitives from his own, knowing he can not go home until he has found them all. His name is Darien Lambert and this is his story."

"It began in the future. A time machine called TRAX, criminals who vanish, and a lawman who must pursue into the past. Now he is among us, a special breed of man. He has one weapon and a computer called Selma. With her, he will travel through our world, searching for fugitives from his own, knowing he cannot go home until he has found them all. His name is Darien Lambert and this is his story."

Darien Lambert

~ Captain, Fugitive Retrieval Section

Pre-Series (pilot narration)

He was born on August 17, 2160, 8:05 AM, Monday. He was left at the Bradwell orphanage (#35 "Mother"). Unclaimed by his birth parents; he was raised in Enclave I-6 Middle City, the area known long before as Chicago Land. As was the custom, he was allowed to choose his own name. He chose Darien, hero of the Just War of 2129, and Lambert, the surname of the woman who bore him; whom he called mother even though all he had of her was her photograph.

He grew up a normal child of his times: IQ 204, Speed Memorization rate 1.2 pages per second (slightly above average). He was a competent athlete. His best speed for the 100 meters was 8.6 seconds, and for the Mile Run - 3 minutes 38 seconds. He wondered how the Olympic Champion could ever have done it twenty seconds faster. His heartbeat was a normal 35 beats per minute. His life expectancy - 120 years. His lungs were average, capable of air storage up to six minutes. Beta wave training had given his generation mind control capabilities unavailable fifty years before his birth. One of these was the ability to slow down the speed of visual images reaching the brain, popularly called "time stalling". It demanded rigorous training.

He was a solitary child; he lived among his memories. He was also a patriot. He admitted this to no one, because it was out of fashion. But he had feelings for his native land, once called the United States, and knew every detail of her history. He admired her early Fugitive Retrieval Specialists, the U.S. Marshals, and wondered why in later times so many of her criminals went unpunished. This belief system took him on a career path: The International Police Academy at West Point on Hudson.

In the same year, Dr. Mordecai Sahmbi of MIT won the Nobel Prize for physics for his theoretical work in the teletransportation of particle mass. Halfway around the earth, Sahmbi is idolized by the brilliant young prodigy, Elyssa Channing-Knox (Mia Sara). About to be accepted at MIT, she is nine years old. By the time she is 17, she will have become his most gifted student. These two people will change Lambert's life forever.

At West Point, Lambert excels; he learns Mosh-T an occidental improvement of martial arts. He becomes expert with the Pellet Projection Tube, the standard police weapon of the day. He graduates first in his class and is commissioned a Detective, Junior Grade. He is a marshal at last. The years that follow are turbulent to Lambert. He learns the eternal lesson of his trade; a policeman stands alone. Nor is his isolation made easier by being a member of a minority race. [The crowd chants 'blanco'.] It is the 22nd century's most abrasive racial slur. His experiences have made him strong, yet by decade's end, a series of events have begun to shake his confidence.

His arrest record declines sharply. Routine track-downs end in mysterious disappearances. Suspects vanish without a trace. He begins to doubt his ability. Then, one day in the summer of '92 ... (leads into the series)

(Primary Source: Introduction First Episode of "Time Trax")

Family

Aliases

Misc

SELMA

Selma was Darien's link to his past (i.e. life in our temporal future) Selma was a computer, but a computer that seemed like a real person to Darien most of the time. They fought with one another and worried about each other. By the end of the series, SELMA almost "mothered" Darien and, despite her programming, admitted a deep pride in him. By all appearances the feeling was mutual. Selma was disguised as a credit card that Darien always carried with him. Selma communicated with both a voice and a holographic interface based on a picture of Darien's mother. It is revealed that SELMA can change her outward holographic appearance if Darien so desires. Additionally, SELMA can place phone calls, perform medical and scientific testing as well as interface with virtually any computer including those belonging to law enforcement agencies. Using this ability, SELMA has created marshals' credentials. Additionally, using this ability, SELMA has also made travel reservations for Darien as well performing research from contemporary sources. SELMA also has a vast amount of information in her database; this encompasses everything from technical manuals to cookbooks and historical facts.

Encountered fugitives the Antagonists

Dr. Mordecai Sahmbi

Charlie "C.L." Burke

Sepp Dietrich

Other characters

Elyssa Channing-Knox

Annie Knox (Mia Sara)

Fugitive Retrieval Sergeant

Country singer Caitlin Carlisle (Kassie Wesley DePaiva)

Joey Miller

Timeline

Production

Time Trax was filmed in and around Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was the last series to premiere under the Lorimar Productions name.

Credits

Created by:

Regulars:

Recurring characters:

DVD release

On October 9, 2012, Warner Bros. released the complete first season on DVD in Region 1 via their Warner Archive Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release. The second and final season was released by Warner Archive on July 9, 2013.

International broadcasters

Video game

A video game for the Super NES console based on the series was released on the U.S. market by Malibu Games in April 1994 (although some sources list December 1993). A Sega Genesis version was also developed and completed, and was reviewed in major gaming publications, but it was never released by the publisher. A prototype of the Mega Drive/Genesis version in fully finished state was leaked in 2013.