The film is a modernization of the Wells' story, making the Time Traveller a 1970s scientist working for a fictional US defense contractor, "the Mega Corporation". Dr. Neil Perry (John Beck (actor)), the Time Traveller, is described as one of Mega's most reliable contributors by his senior co-worker Branly (Whit Bissell, an alumnus of the 1960 adaptation). Perry's skill is demonstrated by his rapid reprogramming of an off-course satellite, averting a disaster that could have destroyed Los Angeles. His reputation had secured a grant of $20 million for his time machine project. A month from completion, the corporation wants Perry to put his project on hold so that he can begin work on a new weapon's project, the "anti-matter bomb." The unexpectedly early completion of the power module permits Perry to test his time machine the weekend before he is to begin the new project.