
Shows that feel likeDoctor Who (2005–2021)
If you loved Doctor Who, the closest series we have are Timeless (2016), Continuum (2012) and Falling Skies (2011). All three share Doctor Who's kinetic and epic feel, which is what we rank on before quality.
Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Quantum Leap (1989).
If Doctor Who hit the spot, these will too

Drop into a new period each week, meddle, then run for the machine
The difference: An American history lesson with a fixed team — two short seasons only

Time travel used to strand someone far from home and out of place
The difference: Grim, plotty and adult — no whimsy, no wonder in the machine

Earth under alien threat, defended by whoever is left standing
The difference: Military drama, grim and without wonder

A wanderer landing somewhere new each week to put one life right
The difference: Small-scale and human — no aliens, no cosmos, no looming menace

Past and future colliding, with someone hunted across both
The difference: Tense, humourless survival — a chase rather than an adventure

A near-invincible hero whose stakes keep escalating past sense
The difference: Anime combat, with no companions and no melancholy

Ordinary people flung somewhere impossible and forced to cope
The difference: Network survival melodrama — no guide, no wonder, one closed mystery

A ragtag crew bouncing through history, silly one week and grave the next
The difference: Superhero-universe furniture and comic-book rules throughout

Both keep coming back to the same thing: time travel
The difference: Easier on the stillness than Doctor Who

One thread runs through both: alien

Kinetic and epic in the same breath

Common ground: alien
The difference: Trades the stillness of Doctor Who for an angle of its own
In the mood for more kinetic?
all kinetic shows →The best-reviewed series that share Doctor Who’s defining feeling.









