BBC One recently aired a three-part mini-series adaptation of H.G. Wells' 1897 novel The War of the Worlds, and for a change this adaptation actually kept the setting of the novel, which took place around the same time it was published. I've been wanting to see an adaptation like this ever since I first read the book when I was a kid, so I'm excited to watch this mini-series… even though word of mouth hasn't been stellar.
Directed by Craig Viveiros from a script by Peter Harness, this version of The War of the Worlds stars Rafe Spall, Eleanor Tomlinson, Rupert Graves, and Robert Carlyle. The mini-series follows a group of
earthlings caught up in the panic after a meteor bearing extermination-minded aliens lands in the usually placid British countryside.
The characters are
George (Spall), a man who escapes his failing marriage to begin a new life with Amy (Tomlinson), despite societal disapproval. Graves is Frederick, George’s elder brother, and Carlyle plays Ogilvy, an astronomer and scientist. The show follows them as they face the escalating terror of an alien invasion.
If, like me, you weren't able to catch the mini-series when it aired on BBC One, you'll have a better chance to see it now. AMC's ad-free service AMC Premiere has acquired the show and is bringing it to 221 territories worldwide. The War of the Worlds is going global.
The mini-series was executive produced by Viveiros, Harness, Damien Timmer, Preethi Mavahalli, and Tommy Bulfin.
If a period adaptation isn't your thing, a contemporary War of the Worlds mini-series is set to begin airing on Epix on February 16th.