“…there was some grumbling that this latest adaptation of The War of the Worlds (BBC One) would be a “woke” revision of the story, taking liberties with HG Wells’ source material to promote newfangled ideas like the existence of women and gay people. Besides, what better time to produce a drama about the end of the world as we know it than this? You can’t move for contemporary parallels: war, the climate crisis, an authoritarian insistence that all will be well despite copious evidence to the contrary. This tale of an alien invasion and the mass destruction of humanity will do little for the sense of dread that seems ever-present and pressing, but it does put on a jolly good show.
We know this will be a stylish take on The War of the Worlds from the off. Its opening credits are very “American prestige drama”, with archive military footage spliced with clips of parasites at work, all scratched and screwed up. While there have been notable changes to the story, it is hard to imagine any Wells purists being upset with what the writer/executive producer Peter Harness has done….”