BBC is making a Victorian-era War of the Worlds TV series

Friday, May 5th, 2017

The BBC has announced a number of new shows, including a three-part series based on H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds — which will take place in the original Victorian-setting:

The series will be written by screenwriter Peter Hartness, who adapted Susanna Clarke’s Victorian-era fantasy novel Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell for the network, as well as a handful of Doctor Who episodes. The North-West Evening Mail has some additional details, quoting Mammoth Studios Managing Director of Productions Damien Timmer as saying that while the film has been adapted many times, “no one has ever attempted to follow Wells and locate the story in Dorking at the turn of the last century.” The project was first announced in 2015, and today’s confirmation of production comes only months after the book entered the public domain.

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The War of the Worlds is one of the more important works of science fiction out there, and its period setting is important to the original story, as it’s part of an entire movement of fiction dubbed ‘invasion literature’, in which England is gallantly defended against hostile outsiders.

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