Doctor Who is currently very popular within geek culture. But did you know that the character is not the first quirky doctor to adventure through time?
The mysterious Dr. Moses Nebogipfel arrives in a small Welsh town in 1887. The apprehensions of the simple rural folk eventually cause them to storm the inventor's workshop in an effort to avenge perceived witchery. Nebogipfel escapes with one other person, the sympathetic Reverend Elijah Ulysses Cook, in what is later revealed to be a time machine. After having been missing for three weeks, Cook returns, aged many years older. He talks about a journey that took the duo to the days of mankind's last stand against an alien invasion in the 41st Century, and even further into the future to a time when humans are no longer the dominant life form on Earth.
Originally written by a 22-year old H.G. Wells in 1888, "The Chronic Argonauts" is considered to be the first well-developed use of a 'time machine' in science fiction. It predates his more famous time traveling novel, 'The Time Machine', by seven years, yet has never been adapted for other media. While Wells' version ends with a cliff-hanger, New Baby Productions has expanded the story with an adventure that is influenced by the legendary writer's other works.
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