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Doctor Who showrunner to helm The Time Traveler's Wife on HBO

Steven Moffat takes on time travel again, only this series won't have a spinning Tardis.

Bonnie Burton
Journalist Bonnie Burton writes about movies, TV shows, comics, science and robots. She is the author of the books Live or Die: Survival Hacks, Wizarding World: Movie Magic Amazing Artifacts, The Star Wars Craft Book, Girls Against Girls, Draw Star Wars, Planets in Peril and more! E-mail Bonnie.
Bonnie Burton
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#IMDboat At San Diego Comic-Con 2017: Day Three
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#IMDboat At San Diego Comic-Con 2017: Day Three

Doctor Who actor Peter Capaldi (left) and writer Steven Moffat spend some quality time outside the Tardis. 

Tommaso Boddi

If anyone knows how to tell a captivating story about time travelers, it's former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat

HBO announced on Tuesday that it's hired Moffat for a TV adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger's novel The Time Traveler's Wife. Moffatt will write the series, and will also serve as executive producer with Sue Vertue and Brian Minchin.

"I read Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife many years ago, and I fell in love with it," Moffat said in a statement provided to Variety. "In fact, I wrote a Doctor Who episode called The Girl In The Fireplace as a direct response to it. When, in her next novel, Audrey had a character watching that very episode, I realized she was probably on to me."

The Time Traveler's Wife tells the story of Clare and Henry, who have a bit of a complicated marriage due to one major issue --  Henry can time travel but has no control over when and where he goes. 

This isn't the first time Niffenegger's 2003 novel The Time Traveler's Wife has been adapted for the screen. In 2009, The Time Traveler's Wife was made into a science fiction film starring Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams and Ron Livingston.

Now that the popular book is getting a TV series, here's hoping fans will see more depth and complexity given to their favorite  characters from the book.

"The brave new world of long form television is now ready for this kind of depth and complexity," Moffatt said. "It's a story of happy ever after -- but not necessarily in that order."

No word yet from HBO on when the new series will air.