diff --git a/rerun_notebook/src/js/widget.ts b/rerun_notebook/src/js/widget.ts
index f6333c00bcc3..795e755cf166 100644
--- a/rerun_notebook/src/js/widget.ts
+++ b/rerun_notebook/src/js/widget.ts
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ class ViewerWidget {
 
     model.on("msg:custom", this.on_custom_message);
 
+    model.on("change:_time_ctrl", (_, [timeline, time, play]) => this.on_time_ctrl(null, timeline, time, play));
+
     this.viewer.on("ready", () => {
       this.channel = this.viewer.open_channel("temp");
 
@@ -122,6 +124,33 @@ class ViewerWidget {
       console.log("unknown message type", msg, buffers);
     }
   };
+
+  on_time_ctrl = (_: unknown, timeline: string | null, time: number | null, play: boolean) => {
+    let recording_id = this.viewer.get_active_recording_id();
+    if (recording_id === null) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    let active_timeline = this.viewer.get_active_timeline(recording_id);
+
+    if (timeline === null) {
+      timeline = active_timeline;
+    }
+
+    if (timeline === null) {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    if (timeline !== active_timeline) {
+      this.viewer.set_active_timeline(recording_id, timeline);
+    }
+
+    this.viewer.set_playing(recording_id, play);
+
+    if (time !== null) {
+      this.viewer.set_current_time(recording_id, timeline, time);
+    }
+  }
 }
 
 const render: Render<WidgetModel> = ({ model, el }) => {
diff --git a/rerun_notebook/src/rerun_notebook/__init__.py b/rerun_notebook/src/rerun_notebook/__init__.py
index 763c056ffa0b..afb0996cdf62 100644
--- a/rerun_notebook/src/rerun_notebook/__init__.py
+++ b/rerun_notebook/src/rerun_notebook/__init__.py
@@ -68,6 +68,13 @@ class Viewer(anywidget.AnyWidget):
     _ready = False
     _data_queue: list[bytes]
 
+    _time_ctrl = traitlets.Tuple(
+        traitlets.Unicode(allow_none=True),
+        traitlets.Int(allow_none=True),
+        traitlets.Bool(),
+        allow_none=True,
+    ).tag(sync=True)
+
     def __init__(
         self,
         *,
@@ -122,3 +129,6 @@ def block_until_ready(self, timeout=5.0) -> None:
                     return
                 poll(1)
                 time.sleep(0.1)
+
+    def set_time_ctrl(self, timeline: str | None, time: int | None, play: bool) -> None:
+        self._time_ctrl = (timeline, time, play)
diff --git a/rerun_py/rerun_sdk/rerun/notebook.py b/rerun_py/rerun_sdk/rerun/notebook.py
index 0fc161ebe4d6..1bc5d5a6e398 100644
--- a/rerun_py/rerun_sdk/rerun/notebook.py
+++ b/rerun_py/rerun_sdk/rerun/notebook.py
@@ -151,6 +151,46 @@ def _repr_mimebundle_(self, **kwargs: dict) -> tuple[dict, dict] | None:  # type
     def _repr_keys(self):  # type: ignore[no-untyped-def]
         return self._viewer._repr_keys()
 
+    def set_time_ctrl(
+        self,
+        *,
+        sequence: int | None = None,
+        nanoseconds: int | None = None,
+        seconds: float | None = None,
+        timeline: str | None = None,
+        play: bool = False,
+    ) -> None:
+        """
+        Set the time control for the viewer.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        sequence: int
+            The sequence number to set the viewer to.
+        seconds: float
+            The time in seconds to set the viewer to.
+        nanoseconds: int
+            The time in nanoseconds to set the viewer to.
+        play: bool
+            Whether to start playing from the specified time point. Defaults to paused.
+        timeline : str
+            The name of the timeline to switch to. If not provided, time will remain on the current timeline.
+
+        """
+        if sum([sequence is not None, nanoseconds is not None, seconds is not None]) > 1:
+            raise ValueError("At most one of sequence, nanoseconds, or seconds may be provided")
+
+        if sequence is not None:
+            time = sequence
+        elif nanoseconds is not None:
+            time = nanoseconds
+        elif seconds is not None:
+            time = int(seconds * 1e9)
+        else:
+            time = None
+
+        self._viewer.set_time_ctrl(timeline, time, play)
+
 
 def notebook_show(
     *,