When is The War of the Worlds on TV?

 

Eighty years after an infamous radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds supposedly sparked a mass panic that the world was ACTUALLY ending, the BBC is gifting us with a brand-new adaptation of the HG Wells sci-fi novel.

Eleanor Tomlinson, Rafe Spall, Robert Carlyle and Rupert Graves will star in the three-part series, written for television by Doctor Who’s Peter Harness.

The show was announced in spring 2017 and production began in April 2018, with filming taking place in Liverpool.

An exact air date has not been confirmed but it’s expected to arrive on our screens later in 2018.

Unlike Steven Spielberg’s 2005 movie adaptation starring Tom Cruise and Dakota Fanning, the BBC’s version will be true to the original period and setting.

“HG Wells’ seminal novel has been adapted for the screen many times, but it’s always had a contemporary (and American) setting,” director Craig Viveiros said. “This is the first version to be set in London and [its environs] during the Edwardian period.”

However, George and Amy – Spall and Tomlinson’s characters – are a new addition.

Writer Peter Harness added: “The version of The War of the Worlds that I wanted to make is one that’s faithful to the tone and the spirit of the book, but which also feels contemporary, surprising and full of shocks: a collision of sci-fi, period drama and horror.”