Timeturner Tales

from Sidelines

Basic History of the Show

• The WWN's longest-running dramatic serial, it premiered in May of 1947.
• New episodes are aired Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 3 pm - 4 pm; they have had this timeslot since 1982.
• As suggested by the title, timeturners are a frequent plot device used on the show, to go back and "fix" events during the course of narration. They very rarely leave gaping holes in the narration anymore, though those were prevalent in the early years of the show. The timeturners, of course, are accompanied by cheesy sound effects.
• For decades, the writing was high quality, but since about the turn of the century, the writing has started slipping, and the show has devolved from drama to melodrama in recent years. (You can thank the current Head Writer for that.)
• The voice of the narrator is always a soothing, older gentleman. It has remained surprisingly constant since the start of the show, despite the fact that there have been five different actors taking on his "character." Only the most devoted fans who pay close attention would be able to tell you the differences. The show is set in and around the fictional seaside town of Port Merwyn in northeastern England (an "exact location" is never given, it's just only ever stated as being located in the northeast).
• The town was named after Merwyn the Malicious and is an entirely-wizarding town. Muggles don't even know it exists. It's a relatively small town where everyone seems to know everyone else. Think Stars Hollow from the TV show Gilmore Girls, only a little bit less kooky. For the most part, residents live in relatively small single-family houses (or in the one apartment complex in town), though there are four big estates surrounding the town. One of the biggest businesses in town is the Starboard Inn, which is primarily owned by the Hughes family.
• The show primarily focuses on the four "core" families of the town, each of which has a different primary business, and each one lives in one of the four estates. Everyone else in town, even if not part of the core families, is in some way connected to one of them, either through relationships or business.

Basic Information for Cast and Crew

• Since 1985, the show does not air live, it is often recorded up to a week prior to air date. This allows for multiple takes, if necessary (the actor who has played "Whitey" since the beginning was notorious for frequently misspeaking on the air), as well as allowing for sound effects to be better integrated.
• Prior to recording, there are brief read-throughs of the script.
• And speaking of the script, the actors frequently only get their scripts a day or two before recording, the writers don't leave themselves much of a buffer, because they try to tweak their storytelling based on reactions from the audience after episodes have aired.
• The Head Writer was replaced in 2001, when the previous Head Writer (who had been with the show since the beginning) asked for a raise. The new Head Writer came from outside of the show and has been more interested in melodrama than drama.
• Under the current Head Writer is a staff of about five writers who work together to actually write the scripts. There is one writer who is the "main" writer for each of the four families, and one who is the "main" writer for the rest of the characters in the town, and each is considered the in-house expert on the personalities and histories of each member of their part of the cast.
• Generally, the children are voiced by older actors who are already under contract with the show; most characters who are introduced to the show as children don't get their "own" actor until the character has graduated from Hogwarts, simply because those characters are only around during Hogwarts holidays for seven years, and the Powers That Be don't want to have somebody under contract for such infrequency. Once the character graduates from Hogwarts and until they are recast, they are usually still voiced by the same actor who had voiced them in growing up. Because of this, auditions for roles on the serial often include readings of children's parts, as they try to hire actors who can convincingly sound like children if needed. However, also because of this, the children don't often get many speaking parts on the show until they're almost at Hogwarts age.
  • There are a few notable exceptions to this. The 9-year-old daughter of the voice actress for Hera Sprecher was cast in Marie Sprecher's role in 1999, after Marie's accident, because Marie would not be attending Hogwarts, and the daughter was a squib, so she would not be attending Hogwarts, either.
  • Sometimes, if there is a promising Hogwarts student who plans to go into acting after they finish school, they will be offered the role of a Hogwarts-aged character on the show under a special contract that only has them working on Hogwarts holidays, with stipulations built in on maintaining decent marks in school and graduating on time, and the contract only runs through graduation: giving both the show and the actor the opportunity to change their mind before the character returns to being a full-time cast member.
  • Whenever a new actor takes over the voice of a character, or a new character is introduced that an existing cast member will be voicing, the Narrator mentions it briefly at the start of the show. ("The role of Ryan Sprecher will now be voiced by Hugh Bradley.")

The Current Main Cast of Characters

The NARRATOR is sort of like an outside observer of the goings-on of the residents of Port Merwyn. Because the show is broadcast over the wireless and the listeners can't see what's going on, he provides descriptions of scene changes, and of what's going on when it's not readily obvious. None of the characters acknowledge his presence.

The HUGHES family are business moguls, with their fingers in just about every business in the town.

• Edward Hughes is the family patriarch and an important donor to St. Mungo's; born c. 1908
• Lila Hughes née Clark was Edward's wife, who had an "off-camera" death when her portrayer died; the funeral was one of the most-listened-to episodes in the entire 1990s; born c. 1910
  • Jennifer Hughes is Edward and Lila's daughter, who has been her father's right hand since she graduated from Hogwarts; born c. 1935
    • Bradley Hughes is Jennifer's son from an unknown wizard, he is a mostly-retired musician and has been poised to inherit the family business since Daniel's death and Callum's estrangement; born c. 1960
    • Eleanor Hughes is Jennifer's son from an unknown wizard (different from Bradley's father), she is a novelist; born c. 1974
  • Henry Hughes is Edward and Lila's son, and he went against his parents' plans for him and became a Healer instead of joining the family business; there is frequent tension between him and his father; born c. 1940
    • Jeanne Hughes née Ward is Henry's wife, and she is also a Healer; born c. 1948
    • Daniel Hughes was Henry and Jeanne's eldest son, he was poised to inherit the family business until he died in a cauldron explosion in 1990; born c. 1968
      • William Jonathan Whitaker is Daniel's son with Caroline Whitaker and the adoptive son of Michael Whitaker III and is a student at Hogwarts; born c. 1990
    • Callum Hughes is Henry and Jeanne's youngest son, and he is estranged from the family ever since they had different views on the war; he has worked with the Whitaker family (as Michael III's right hand man) since 1999; born c. 1975
    • Audrey Hughes is Henry and Jeanne's daughter, and she works at the front desk of the Starboard Inn; born c. 1980

The KNIGHT family is a very ministry-connected family. The family dream is to one day have a Knight as the Minister for Magic.

• George Knight is the family patriarch, and he is a diplomat for the Department of International Magical Cooperation; born c. 1925
• Olivia Knight née Morgan is George's wife; born c. 1927
  • Alexander Knight is the eldest son of George and Olivia, and he works as an unspeakable; born c. 1953
  • Holly Knight is the daughter of George and Olivia, and she is a barrister who used to be retained as the Whitaker family's primary solicitor; born c. 1957
    • Jasper Hearst is Holly's on-again-off-again husband (they have been married and divorced twice: the first time from 1989-1993, the second time from 2000-2005), and he is a barrister; born c. 1950
    • Todd Joshua Knight-Whitaker (Malcolm Baddock) is the son of Holly Knight and Michael Whitaker III: Holly had primary custody as he was growing up; has a low-level job in the Ministry; born c. 1985
    • Julia Hearst is Jasper and Holly's older daughter and a student at Hogwarts; born c. 1992
    • Jocelyn Hearst is Jasper and Holly's younger daughter, born c. 2004; Jasper and Holly's custody battle over her was some of the best writing in recent years
  • Timothy Knight is the youngest son of George and Olivia, and he is an Auror; born c. 1963
    • Samantha Knight née Hill is Timothy's wife, and she is a hitwitch; born c. 1963
    • Owen Knight is Timothy and Samantha's son and the twin brother of Kate, and he is an Auror; born c. 1980
    • Kate Knight is Timothy and Samantha's daughter and the twin sister of Owen, and she is a junior diplomat for the Department of International Magical Cooperation; born c. 1980

The SPRECHER family breeds and races Aethonons. Their estate, obviously, includes a very well-designed stables and a practice course.

• Richard "Whitey" Sprecher is the family patriarch; born c. 1922
• Katherine Sprecher née Parker is Richard's wife; born c. 1925
  • Brennan Sprecher is Richard and Katherine's eldest child, a famous retired Aethonon racer; born c. 1953
    • Sitti Sprecher née Hussain is Brennan's wife; born c. 1955
    • Laina Sprecher was Brennan and Sitti's daughter, she died in 1998 during the war; born c. 1953
    • Ryan Sprecher (Hugh Bradley) is Brennan and Sitti's son, a fun-loving boy who dreams of surpassing his father as a racer; born c. 1980
    • Jung Iseul Kwan is Brennan and Sitti's goddaughter, and has been living with the Sprecher family ever since her parents were killed during the war; born c. 1980
  • Arthur Sprecher is Richard and Katherine's younger son, a veritable Aethonon-whisperer; born c. 1959
    • Hera Sprecher née Mason is Arther's wife; born c. 1962
    • Marie "Mouse" Sprecher is Arthur and Hera's daughter, who was crippled in a riding accident in 1999, so the family doesn't let her fly anymore, though she dreams of it constantly; she does not attend Hogwarts, because of her injuries; born c. 1990
  • Glynnis Sprecher is Richard and Katherine's daughter, the fun-loving spinster aunt of Laina, Ryan, Jung, and Marie; born c. 1965

The WHITAKER family is heavily involved in the black market, under the guise of international shipping. When the show first started, the fourth family was the Munroe family, and Michael III became Jack Munroe's right hand man circa 1975, taking over the "family," business, and estate in 1978 after Jack's murder. The murder of Jack Munroe was one of the biggest mysteries of any non-crime-based serial ever on the wireless, spanning months. Long-time listeners still fondly recall that as the peak of Timeturner Tales' storytelling. (And for the record, Jack's son Damian killed him and tried to pin it on Michael III, out of jealousy for how much more Jack liked Michael III than Damian.)

• Michael James Whitaker III is the family patriarch; born c. 1950
• Caroline Jean Whitaker née Williams is the on-again-off-again wife of Michael III (currently on again; they have been married or otherwise involved with each other more often than not since 1978); born c. 1957
  • Michael James "Mikey" Whitaker IV (Justin Finch-Fletchley) is Michael III and Caroline's eldest son; he works with his dad, though for now solely on the legitimate side of the business; born c. 1980
  • Todd Joshua Knight-Whitaker (Malcolm Baddock)is the son of Michael Whitaker III and Holly Knight: Holly had primary custody as he was growing up; has a low-level job in the Ministry; born c. 1985
  • William Jonathan Whitaker is the son of Caroline Whitaker and Daniel Hughes and the adoptive son of Michael Whitaker III and is a student at Hogwarts; born c. 1990


• Callum Hughes is a member of the Hughes family by blood, but he has been working with the Whitaker family since 1999, when he became estranged from his family due to differing opinions on the war; he has been in an on-again-off-again relationship with Sophie Roberts (currently off-again) since 2003; born c. 1975
• Sophie Roberts is Michael III's assistant; she was pregnant with his child in 2001, but miscarried after an attack on the Whitaker family left her barely alive; she has been in an on-again-off-again relationship with Callum Hughes (currently off-again) since 2003; born c. 1976

A few notes: Audrey Hughes (Hufflepuff), Owen (Gryffindor) and Kate (Ravenclaw) Knight, Ryan Sprecher (Ravenclaw), Jung Kwan (Hufflepuff), and Mikey Whitaker (Slytherin) all attended Hogwarts together (as it would happen, if they'd existed in the "real" world, they'd have all been yearmates with Harry and co), so the six of them have a dynamic all their own, separate from their families' dynamics. In an attempt to "connect" with younger listeners, the writers have started focusing on the younger generation (these six and their siblings and cousins), though there's still plenty of focus on the older generation.

There are three legendary pairs of get-them-in-the-same-room-and-they'll-kill-each-other relationships: Jasper Hearst and Michael Whitaker III, whose disagreements and butting of heads date back to when they attended Hogwarts together; Holly Knight and Caroline Whitaker, who were best friends until Michael III and Holly slept together and are now frenemies of the highest caliber; and Edward Hughes and Whitey Sprecher, who just feud over whose family is more prestigious and talented (it's not quite Montagues and Capulets, but both saw red when Audrey and Ryan dated in their sixth year).

There are, of course, many other characters involved in the cast that are not a member of one of the four families.