What exactly is going on with BBC One's The War of the Worlds?

It's been more than three years since the project was first reported as being in development, so you'd be forgiven for wondering when exactly it's going to air, what's been holding it up, and if there's any cause for concern.



Peter Harness (Doctor Who, Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell) is adapting HG Wells's 19th century science-fiction novel, bringing us a screen version that shifts the story slightly forward to the Edwardian rather than Victorian era, and which will feature original characters played by a top-drawer cast.

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Rafe Spall will play George, with Poldark's Eleanor Tomlinson cast as his partner Amy, a couple looking to start a life together who are faced with the escalating terror of an alien invasion, alongside George's elder brother Frederick (Rupert Graves) and the astronomer/scientist Ogilvy (Robert Carlyle).

Craig Viveiros (And Then There Were None, Rillington Place) will direct the first ever British TV serial based on Wells's novel, from producer Mammoth Screen (Vanity Fair, The ABC Murders).

"The version of The War of the Worlds that I wanted to make is one that's faithful to the tone and the spirit of the book, but which also feels contemporary, surprising and full of shocks," writer Harness has said. "[It'll be] a collision of sci-fi, period drama and horror."

Harness was originally linked to the mini-series in December 2015, with Broadcast the first to report his involvement. But all this time later and Digital Spy understands that a transmission date for The War of the Worlds is still yet to be set by the BBC.

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Before you start worrying, though, that the whole thing's a disaster the Beeb is looking to bury, there are a number of perfectly practical reasons for its long gestation.

Chiefly, despite those early rumblings in late 2015, Mammoth Screen's production could not begin in earnest until 2017, by which time The War of the Worlds – and indeed, all of HG Wells's works – had passed into the public domain. (Essentially, this means that copyright law no longer applies, making his books free to access, reprint... and, yes, adapt.)

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Once this hurdle had been vaulted, the BBC quickly confirmed in May 2017 that it had greenlit the three-parter. Now, even the much smaller gap between then and now might feel like an age to viewers eagerly anticipating the series, but again, it's probably nothing to worry about.

That BBC commission came as part of a raft of announcements which also included a new version of Little Women, which aired later that year, but also the likes of Informer, which didn't air until late 2018, and a number of other series that are still to broadcast.



Filming on The War of the Worlds got under way in Liverpool in early April 2018, with the BBC confirming casting and providing a first look at the series, while our first (brief) look at some footage again arrived a few months later, in mid-July 2018, as part of a BBC sizzle reel teasing upcoming dramas.

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Again, should we be concerned that, six months on from that early glimpse, we've still not seen the finished product? Not necessarily. The reel was promoting not just shows that aired in late 2018 – Killing Eve, Wanderlust, Informer again – but also the Suranne Jones-starring Gentleman Jack, which, like The War of the Worlds, is still waiting on an air date.

So... the biggest hold-up from 2015 to 2019 was a rights issue, and while certain shows have come and gone in the 20 months since the BBC officially announced The War of the Worlds, certain others are also still waiting on broadcast.

The substantial post-production (chiefly involving special effects) that a project like this demands has also likely contributed to the long wait – we had to hold out until January 1, 2019 for our first glimpse at the book's extra-terrestrial fighting machines, again featuring as part of a larger BBC drama reel.

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Then there's the difficulty of finding an appropriate slot. Having opted, for whatever reason, not to put the show out at Christmas, it's very probable that the BBC is looking for another prime slot in which to air this big-budget drama... Easter weekend, possibly?

One thing's for sure: when it does eventually transmit, The War of the Worlds will be going out... well, worldwide. In October, ITV Studios Global Entertainment revealed that it had sold the mini-series in more than 80 territories, including to broadcasters in France, Spain, Italy, Russia, Australia and Canada.



These extensive sales were agreed at the Mipcom content market in Cannes, where studios and broadcasters buy and sell new programmes and formats, and came as a promising sign after another prolonged period of silence following that July 2018 footage.

So for now, we'd encourage a little patience and optimism. A wait this long is perhaps uncommon, but certainly not unheard of, so when it comes to The War of the Worlds, there's probably nothing to worry about.

Except for the Martians, obviously.

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