Common Sense Media Review
By Ashley Moulton
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Funny historical capers with violence, peril, and language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 9+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Time Bandits
What's the Story?
In TIME BANDITS, eleven-year-old Kevin (Kal-El Tuck) lives in England with a family perplexed by his deep passion for history. One day, he hears rattling in his wardrobe and is stunned to learn that his furniture is a portal to an ancient Viking battle. The next day, the Time Bandits burst through the wardrobe. Lead by Penelope (Lisa Kudrow), the bandits are a ragtag group of hapless adults trying (and mostly failing) to plunder history's most valuable treasures. They've stolen a map that indicates time-travel portals, allowing them to hop to any place and moment in time. Eager to both escape his family and travel through history, Kevin joins the misfit pirates. He gets to be a part of history: asking the builders of Stonehenge what the monument means, sneaking into Troy inside the Trojan horse, and telling Chinese pirate Madame Chung how to avoid the British navy. While Kevin is living out his history-nerd dreams, the bandits are being chased by the ominous Supreme Being who wants its map back. Unbeknownst to them, they are also being pursued by Wrongness (Jemaine Clement), an evil mastermind who wants the map for his own terrible purposes. Kevin learns that the fate of the 2024 world rests on his shoulders, and has to use his pluck and super-knowledge of history to keep evil from prevailing.
Is It Any Good?
This quirky, history-packed series is a delightful mashup of several popular kids' tropes. Time Bandits has the dismissive parents and alternate worlds of Harry Potter, the obsession with ancient history of Percy Jackson, and the fantasy elements of both. Unlike those series, the protagonist doesn't have any special powers except his encyclopedic knowledge of historical events. Kids who like fantasy, and especially kids into history, will love this series. Kudrow plays a bumbling pirate version of her Friends Phoebe character, and Clement is hysterical as a villain.
It's fun to see Kevin thrust into all the different time periods, and his enthusiasm for being an eyewitness to history is pretty infectious. Some of the writing is a bit slow or repetitive, but there's plenty of scenes with peril and excitement to make up for it. The humor is not quite in the Terry Gilliam style of the original movie it's based on, but there's plenty of silliness throughout. Grown-ups will enjoy the adult-focused jokes sprinkled throughout, making this a great series for families to watch together.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Kevin's curiosity and how he is so excited to learn the answer to history's mysteries. Are you curious to learn more about any of the real-life historical events in the show?
Kevin has an unwavering sense of self -- he knows what he likes, and doesn't care if anyone understands him or agrees with him. Do you have any interests or passions you feel like none of your friends share? If you do, how does that make you feel?
What do you think is fun about learning history? Or is it all just "boring" like Kevin's family insists?
TV Details
- Premiere date : July 24, 2024
- Cast : Kal-El Tuck , Lisa Kudrow , Jemaine Clement
- Network : Apple TV
- Genre : Comedy
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic ) , Adventures , History
- Character Strengths : Curiosity
- TV rating :
- Award : Common Sense Selection
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate