From the bombings of 1941 to the blasts of 2023, the web series Bodies weaves a fascinating web of time travel and four detectives in the midst of it all

Nonika Singh

FOUR detectives, four time zones and one naked dead body… and what do you get? A complicated maze that makes you travel through time — from 1890 to futuristic 2053. The mystery of a dead man, whose body surfaces out of nowhere, on the same place on a London street in each timeline makes you walk into many lanes of mystery and intrigue. As the four detectives try to solve the case, they are trapped in personal battles, as well as one to save the world.

Time travel has fascinated makers since sometime. More recently, one saw the mesmerising German thriller Dark, also on Netflix. Bodies, a British crime drama on the same streamer is no less beguiling… Opening in 2023, where detective Sergeant Shahara Hasan (Amaka Okafor) of London’s Metropolitan Police is trying to decode the mystery of the dead body, soon we are led to detective Sergeant Charles Whiteman (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd) in 1941 and then there is Inspector Alfred Hillinghead (Kyle Soller) in 1890, where it all started. Or did it? The first episode also introduces us to another timeline (2053) in which Shira Haas, as Chris Maplewood, plays the fourth detective. Her initial encounter with the dead body is no different, but later it spawns into a revealing disclosure.

The series unfolds like an onion peel, bit by bit, drawing us into its many folds. From the bombings of 1941 to bomb blasts of 2023, Bodies weaves a fascinating web. How are four detectives connected to the case and hence each other, what exactly is the identity of the dead man… questions are many. Answers too trickle by slowly, stumping us with each new reveal and upping our curiosity.

As we leapfrog from one episode to another, from one period to another, the director-writer Paul Tomalin keeps you on the leash; in short, invested at all times. Blink and you miss a crucial piece of this massive jigsaw puzzle where one man’s (Stephen Graham as Sir Julian Harker and Commander Mannix) ambition to change and rule the world as well as future clashes with those (read detectives) who simply want to do the right thing.

‘Know that you are loved’ is a recurring dialogue, ominous in its intent and purpose. The series, however, is not simplistic good vs bad binary. Dark made us wonder — if we go back in time and change the sequence of a few events, can future be altered? Bodies too works on a similar thesis. Even in the Marvel movie Avengers: Infinity War, we saw time shuffle. What makes Bodies far more intriguing is how it blends four distinct eras, yet distinguishes one from the other. If the storytelling is elevated by fine acting of the entire ensemble cast, editing by Johannes Hubrich is seamless, connecting one timeline to another without any hiccups. As for production design, be it the period settings or the dystopian future, even the minutest detail is taken care of. Bomb raids of 1941 transport you to the era of World War II, as do séances and conflicted ‘in closet’ relationship of the two men in 1890. The storyline based on graphic novel of the same name written by Si Spencr, a loop within a loop, ensnares you.

The final act may seem relatively simplistic with its ‘all is well that ends well’ tone in an otherwise complex tale. But, ‘know you are loved’ acquires its real meaning only with the finale. After all, love alone is life-changing and even future hinges upon this very basic universal human emotion. Wrapped as a sci-fi, in this genre-defying and mind-bending whodunit, the ultimate comforting realisation does not come from catching the murderer. But in knowing what, how and who is the real saviour. Ultimately, all bodies have a heart and a soul.