Two days ago, the British public broadcaster announced the launch of a new drama based on the as yet unpublished first novel by Kaliane Bradley. The title of the novel and series is “The Ministry of Time”. According to the BBC on its official website, the plot revolves around a British government agency that recruits agents from different historical periods. The striking similarity in title and plot with the Spanish series El Ministerio del Tiempo, created by Javier and Pablo Olivares and broadcast on La 1 between 2015 and 2020, aroused suspicion among many Twitter users, both the BBC and the BBC drew attention to the similarity with the creator of the series, Javier Olivares.
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Official RTVE sources assure EL PAÍS that “neither RTVE nor the production company that undertook the production of the series has granted the BBC or any other production company a license for the adaptation of El Ministerio del Tiempo.” RTVE will ask the BBC for appropriate ask for clarifications on their announcement, without prejudice to their rights to defend their interests.
It is not the first time that the novel starring Rodolfo Sancho, Aura Garrido and Nacho Fresneda has been at the center of a similar controversy. In September 2016, the production company Onza Partners sued NBC for plagiarism following the release of the series Timeless, created by Eric Kripke and Shawn Ryan. The lawsuit accused them of “conspiring to steal” and “taking away” the idea for the series. In both novels, a team of three people (two men and one woman) work for the government and travel through time to prevent history from being changed. Eventually, a tentative release agreement was reached in 2017, ending the litigation and allowing Timeless to continue broadcasting.
“That NBC (court agreement, it is not an opinion) and the BBC (same title and same idea) plagiarize you shows that we did not do so badly with El Ministerio del Tiempo,” said Javier Olivares ironically in his message he called on TVE to take measures which, according to the company's information to EL PAÍS, have already been implemented.
In the official statement, the BBC explains that the idea for “The Ministry of Time” comes from the unpublished novel by Kaliane Bradley, which will be adapted by Alice Birch, screenwriter of “Normal People”. The well-known production company A24 is responsible for the fiction. His characters include a commander of John Franklin's Arctic expedition in 1845, an army captain from the Battle of the Somme in World War I, a victim of the plague in the early 17th century, an 18th century soldier, and a widow of the revolutionary France. These time expatriates reach the 21st century through bridges (through doors in the Spanish series) and are forced to share an apartment and adapt to the habits and customs of life. contemporary. In this coexistence, romantic tensions will arise and they will have to face a conspiracy.
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