The War of the Worlds (British TV series)

Last updated

The War of the Worlds
The War of the Worlds British Title Card.png
Genre
Based on The War of the Worlds
by H. G. Wells
Written by Peter Harness
Directed by Craig Viveiros
Starring
ComposerRuss Davies
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series1
No. of episodes3 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Damien Timmer
  • Preethi Mavahalli
  • Peter Harness
  • Craig Viveiros
  • Tommy Bulfin
  • Minglu Ma
  • Jamie Brown
ProducerBetsan Morris Evans
Production locationUnited Kingdom
Cinematography James Friend
Production companies
Original release
Network BBC One
Release17 November (2019-11-17) –
1 December 2019 (2019-12-01)

The War of the Worlds is a British three-part science fiction drama television series, produced by Mammoth Screen for the BBC and co-produced with Creasun Media and Red Square. The series is an Edwardian period adaptation of H.G. Wells' 1898 science fiction novel of the same name about a Martian invasion, and is the first British television adaptation of the novel. The War of the Worlds premiered in other countries before its UK broadcast on the BBC between 17 November and 1 December 2019.

Contents

Premise

In 1905 Edwardian England, journalist George (Rafe Spall), who works as an assistant to local scientist Ogilvy (Robert Carlyle), and George's lover Amy (Eleanor Tomlinson) both start a life together in the town of Woking, despite George's current marriage. They both face a Martian invasion of Britain, and possibly the whole of planet Earth, while also attempting to survive against a powerful enemy unable to be fought with human resources. [1]

Cast

Main

Recurring and guest

Episodes

No.EpisodeDirected byWritten byOriginal UK air dateUK viewers
(millions)  [2]
1Episode 1 Craig Viveiros Peter Harness 17 November 2019 (2019-11-17)6.92
2Episode 2Craig ViveirosPeter Harness24 November 2019 (2019-11-24)5.80
3Episode 3Craig ViveirosPeter Harness1 December 2019 (2019-12-01)5.49

Production

Development

The War of the Worlds was first announced in December 2015, [3] with the BBC confirming production of the series in May 2017. [4] The series was produced by Mammoth Screen for the BBC, co-produced with Creasun Media, in association with Red Square. [5]

Writer Peter Harness expanded the role of the narrator's wife from the novel, stating "I think the clearest choice that I made from the start of this project was to give the male character a wife who had strength of character in her own right [...] It was very important to me to make the female character three-dimensional". [6]

The three-part series was directed by Craig Viveiros and produced by Betsan Morris Evans. It was executive produced by Viveiros, Damien Timmer, Preethi Mavahalli, Peter Harness, and from Mammoth Screen; [1] Tommy Bulfin from the BBC; [1] Minglu Ma from Creasun; and Jamie Brown from Red Square. [7]

The interpretation makes use of time-shifting forwards and backwards in the narrative timeline in order to "upend audience expectations". [8]

Filming

Filming began in April 2018 in Liverpool. [1] Locations include St George's Plateau, Eldon Grove, Vauxhall (where an abandoned building was used as a London location), Sir Thomas Street, Dale Street, Ainsdale Woods, Delamere Forest, the village of Great Budworth in Cheshire, [9] the Palm House at Sefton Park, and Croxteth Hall. [10] Filming and post-production were completed by May 2019. [11]

Release

Marketing

The first footage from the BBC drama appeared in July 2018, followed by teaser trailers in January 2019, with the first full trailer for the drama being released in September 2019. [12] [13] [14]

Broadcast

Originally set to premiere in the UK during Christmas 2018, [11] The War of the Worlds actually premiered in Canada on T+E between 6 and 20 October 2019. [15] It was also broadcast in two parts instead of three on New Zealand's TVNZ 1 between 13 and 20 October 2019. [16] Mammoth Screen announced in September 2019 that the programme was expected to be released in the UK in late 2019; [17] the first episode had its UK premiere on 17 November 2019. [18] The three-episode programme was released weekly in the UK. [19]

ITV Studios Global Entertainment is responsible for the international distribution of The War of the Worlds miniseries. [1] It has been sold to major European countries and African territories. [20]

Critical reception

The War of the Worlds has received mixed reviews from critics. The series holds a 67% approval rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, based on 21 critic reviews. The site's consensus reads, "Respectful, if not exactly riveting, Craig Viveiros' reimagined The War of the Worlds wandering narrative undermines its strong performances". [21]

The Guardian gave the drama four stars, deeming it a "solid and reliable" drama, but criticized the plot's pacing, stating it had a "lack of urgency". [22] The Independent gave it three stars but complained about its attempts to speak to contemporary political issues, stating, "The real war here is not between humans and aliens, but between a classic tale and the perceived liberal expectations of audiences in 2019". [23] The Telegraph gave the first episode two stars and criticized it for appearing low budget and the performances by Tomlinson and Spall. [24] The Irish Independent was unfavorable to the first episode and called it a "massive disappointment". [25] The Telegraph was more negative towards the second episode, giving it one star. [26] The Independent was also more negative towards the third episode, giving it two stars. [27] James Delingpole for The Spectator responded negatively to the series, calling it “incredibly sad”. [28] Some critics questioned its political subtext, and criticized it for changing aspects of the novel. Eleanor Tomlinson and Rafe Spall's performances were both critically panned as well. [29] [30] [31] [32]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Filming begins on BBC One drama The War of the Worlds". BBC. 6 April 2018. Archived from the original on 8 July 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2018.
  2. ↑ "Four-screen dashboard". Broadcasters' Audience Research Board. Archived from the original on 2 February 2019. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  3. ↑ Eddy, Cheryl (18 December 2015). "A New War of the Worlds TV Show Is in the Works". Gizmodo. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  4. ↑ Liptak, Andrew (4 May 2017). "BBC is making a Victorian-era War of the Worlds TV series". The Verge. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  5. ↑ Goodfellow, Melanie (15 October 2018). "ITV Studios racks up pre-sales on 'The War Of The Worlds' drama". Screen Daily. Archived from the original on 28 October 2018. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
  6. ↑ Morgan Jeffery (11 November 2019). "Why BBC's War of the Worlds adaptation made this huge change to the book; Digital Spy". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 12 November 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  7. ↑ Perez, Lexy (29 September 2019). "BBC Unveils First Look at 'War of the Worlds' Adaptation in Debut Trailer". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 30 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  8. ↑ Croot, James (13 October 2019). "The War of the Worlds: Eleanor Tomlinson shines in BBC's slow-burning sci-fi". Stuff (company). Archived from the original on 29 October 2019. Retrieved 25 November 2019.
  9. ↑ "Liverpool Echo". Liverpool Echo. 8 April 2018. Archived from the original on 3 May 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  10. ↑ "BBC viewers stunned by Liverpool sets in historic alien drama". 17 November 2019. Archived from the original on 19 November 2019. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
  11. 1 2 Ling, Thomas (23 July 2019). "Don't worry, BBC1's The War of the Worlds IS still coming to TV". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  12. ↑ BBC (15 July 2018). Brand new Drama coming soon - BBC. Event occurs at 0:22. Retrieved 17 November 2019– via YouTube.
  13. ↑ "BBC Drama 2019. Get Obsessed. | OFFICIAL TRAILER". Archived from the original on 1 September 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019– via YouTube.
  14. ↑ Seddon, Dan (29 September 2019). "BBC's The War of the Worlds adaptation finally lands first trailer". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 19 October 2019. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  15. ↑ "Channel Your Fears: T+E Conjures Up Five Spooky New Shows and Resurrects Two Fan-Favourite Series This October". Blue Ant Media. 5 September 2019. Archived from the original on 8 October 2019. Retrieved 17 October 2019.
  16. ↑ "The War of the Worlds". TVNZ. 2 October 2019. Archived from the original on 3 October 2019. Retrieved 3 October 2019.
  17. ↑ Mammoth Screen [@mammothscreen] (9 September 2019). "#TheWarOfTheWorlds, the H.G. Wells classic science fiction adaptation by Peter Harness, directed by Craig Viveiros and starring Eleanor Tomlinson, Rafe Spall, Robert Carlyle and Rupert Graves will be arriving in autumn 2019 on @BBCOne" (Tweet). Retrieved 30 September 2019– via Twitter.
  18. ↑ Mammoth Screen [@mammothscreen] (4 November 2019). "They're coming. #TheWarOfTheWorlds comes to @BBCOne on Sunday 17th November" (Tweet). Retrieved 5 November 2019– via Twitter.
  19. ↑ Kiefer, Halle. "BBC's War of the Worlds Trailer: Tell King Edward VII to Get His Mech Suit On. The Aliens Are Here". Vulture.com . Archived from the original on 30 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  20. ↑ Chu, Henry (29 September 2019). "'The War of the Worlds' Trailer Drops From the BBC (Watch)". Variety . Archived from the original on 29 September 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  21. ↑ "The War of the Worlds (2019): Season 1 (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on 25 November 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  22. ↑ Nicholson, Rebecca (17 November 2019). "The War of the Worlds review – doom, dystopia and a dash of Downton". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 21 November 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  23. ↑ Cumming, Ed (18 November 2019). "The War of the Worlds review: A lavish adaptation let down by its need to be socially relevant". The Independent . London. Archived from the original on 18 November 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  24. ↑ Anita, Singhen (18 November 2019). "The War of the Worlds, episode 1 review: small-scale Martians and women being woke in Woking". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on 18 November 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  25. ↑ Stacey, Pat (18 November 2019). "The War of the Worlds review: 'A massive disappointment'". The Independent . London. Archived from the original on 19 November 2019. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  26. ↑ Anita, Singhen (24 November 2019). "The War of the Worlds, episode 2 review - more soppy domestic drama than sci-fi thriller". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on 24 November 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  27. ↑ Pollard, Alexandra (1 December 2019). "The War of the Worlds review: Too patronising to be an anti-colonialist allegory". The Independent . London. Archived from the original on 3 December 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  28. ↑ Delingpole, James (23 November 2019). "War of the Worlds is as bad as Doctor Who". The Spectator. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  29. ↑ LOUISE MCCREESH (11 November 2019). "Why BBC's War of the Worlds viewers dub BBC series "truly dreadful" as finale airs; Digital Spy". Digitalspy.co.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
  30. ↑ Macrae, Grace. "The War Of The Worlds on BBC slammed after launch - 'Give us the original!'". Daily Express . Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  31. ↑ Power, Ed (18 November 2019). "The Martians deserve better: has the BBC already lost The War of the Worlds?". The Telegraph . Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  32. ↑ Gary Cutlack (19 November 2019). "BBC War of the Worlds Review: Rafe Spall Frowns for an Hour With Good Reason". Gizmodo. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
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