| Timewasters | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Science-fiction Comedy Satire |
| Created by | Daniel Lawrence Taylor |
| Written by | Daniel Lawrence Taylor Barunka O'Shaughnessy |
| Directed by | George Kane |
| Starring | Adelayo Adedayo Daniel Lawrence Taylor Kadiff Kirwan Samson Kayo |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Production | |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Production company | Big Talk Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV2 |
| Release | 9 October 2017 – 8 April 2019 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
Timewasters is a British science-fiction comedy television programme, first broadcast on ITV2 in 2017 with a second series broadcast in 2019. It was created by Daniel Lawrence Taylor and written by Taylor and Barunka O'Shaughnessy. It was produced for ITV Studios by Kenton Allen and Matthew Justice of Big Talk Productions. The episodes were directed by George Kane. The programme stars Taylor, Adelayo Adedayo, Samson Kayo and Kadiff Kirwan as the members of an unsuccessful all-black South London jazz quartet who time-travel to the 1920s, and later the 1950s, visiting the Jazz Age and post-war cool jazz period while experiencing culture clashes as they manoeuvre in the unfamiliar eras.[1]
Critical response to the programme was generally favourable, with praise for its originality in addressing racism through the comedic insertion of modernity into a period setting. It is also known for satirizing historical dramas and their lack of diversity. There was critical praise for the writing, direction, chemistry of the main cast, and music. Taylor won the Breakthrough Award at the 2018 Royal Television Society Programme Awards, and the programme was nominated for Best Scripted Comedy at the 2018 British Academy Television Awards.