Yesterday, I chatted to Robert J Sawyer, author of the 1999 novel FlashForward that the ABC TV series is based on. There’s been a lot of talk about the changing showrunners behind-the-scenes on the show, but Sawyer explains that FlashForward is buoyed by a consistent vision – one that’s been there since the very start. “The head showrunner is Jessika Borsiczky. She’s the one who, ten years ago, read my novel FlashForward and thought, ‘this is something I want to adapt’.”

Sawyer continues: “Shows 1 through 13 were Marc Guggenheim’s episodes. Then 14 through 18, David Goyer was the showrunner, who co-wrote and directed the pilot. David had different sensibilities to Marc, but it wasn’t like anyone was going to take a right turn with this thing – it was a big aircraft that was moving, by design, towards 29 April, the target date in story time. When David left to pursue other opportunities, we all bade him farewell. Jessika had been there from the beginning – and Brannon [Braga], I should add, came back to play an active role. He’s back to make sure everyone delivers what everybody expects.”

Ultimately, though, Sawyer doesn’t believe anyone will pick up on a huge creative gap between each showrunner’s episodes. “Anyone who doesn’t pay attention to the credits won’t notice the difference.”

FlashForward will return to ABC in the US on 18 March, while UK viewers can catch the rest of the series on Five in the near future.