First adaptation of HG Wells' The War of the Worlds

HG Wells' novel The War of the Worlds is being adapted for television for the first time as a three-part drama for BBC One. 

The adaptation will be written by Peter Harness, who has previously worked on "Doctor Who", "Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell" and "Wallander", and produced by Mammoth Screen, the company behind other literary adaptations for the BBC including "Poldark" and Zadie Smith's "NW". Filming will begin in 2018.

Harness paid tribute to Wells' novel as "ground zero for all modern science fiction" and promised to make "a terrifying, Martian-packed series which manages to be emotional, characterful, and - deep breath, dare I say it - even political at the same time". After Horsell Common in Surrey is struck by a huge meteor, the three-part drama will follow one man’s attempt to escape ruthless Martians who are determined to conquer the earth. 

Damien Timmer, Mammoth Screen managing director, commented: “It’s a great honour to bring H.G. Wells’s masterpiece to BBC One. This huge title - the original alien invasion story – has been loosely adapted and riffed on countless times, but no one has ever attempted to follow Wells and locate the story in Woking at the turn of the last century. We hope Peter’s adaptation will be the definitive adaptation of one of the great classic novels – and a visceral, thought provoking thrill ride."