Poldark producer Mammoth Screen is developing a major adaptation of The War Of The Worlds to coincide with the expiration of the copyright on the HG Wells novel next year, Broadcast can reveal.

The ITV-owned production company is working with Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell and Doctor Who writer Peter Harness to create a mini-series that will remain faithful to the period and setting of the novel, which was first serialised in 1897.

Mammoth has secured development funding from a UK broadcaster and now has an eye on the US, where the company is hoping to find a co-production partner next year.

Mammoth’s ambition is to go into production on the series in early 2017, after the copyright expires in December 2016, and it will be distributed internationally by ITV Studios Global Entertainment.

It will be the first time War Of The Worlds has been adapted for UK television and Mammoth is keen to capture the essence of the original story, in which the Surrey town of Dorking is invaded by Martians.

The novel is one of the most influential sci-fi stories ever written and one of the first to depict a conflict between humans and an extra-terrestrial race.

The first-person narrative follows an unnamed protagonist as giant, intelligent aliens from Mars invade Victorian England and threaten to destroy the world.

Paramount Pictures has held the rights to The War Of The Worlds for nearly 90 years after first securing them in 1926. The company has overseen two film adaptations, the first in 1953 with Gene Barry and Ann Robinson, and most recently in 2005.

The modern adaptation [pictured] was directed by Steven Spielberg and starred Tom Cruise as an American dock worker who bids to protect his children from an alien invasion.

Mammoth managing director Damien Timmer told Broadcast: “The aftershock of The War Of The Worlds can still be felt in popular culture today. The story of a Martian invasion as experienced in Victorian Surrey is a masterpiece. We want this new adaptation to reaffirm H G Wells’ position as one of this country’s most important writers.”

Mammoth has built a reputation for producing faithful and critically-acclaimed adaptations of classic literature. In 2013, it adapted Ford Madox Ford’s Parade’s End and this year, the production company made Poldark, which is based on the books of Winston Graham.