Norman Gilligan provides just the right amount of British accent narrating The Time Machine, a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. Wells is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively. The term time machine, coined by Wells, is now universally used to refer to such a vehicle.

The Time Machine has since been adapted into two feature films of the same name as well as two television versions and a large number of comic book adaptations. It has also indirectly inspired many more works of fiction in many media.