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Chris Arnold

Edwardian England is as good a time as any for an alien invasion, according to Robert Carlyle. The classic story of The War of the Worlds is hitting the small screen in a three-part BBC miniseries that’s set for the first time in the early years of the last century — not long after H.G. Wells published his seminal novel. Carlyle stars as the scientist Ogilvy, the first to unknowingly observe the Martians.

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“He’s ahead of his time,” Carlyle said an interview by phone from Vancouver, which he now calls home. “He’s living in Edwardian England but he very well could be around today. He has a female assistant, which in those days was unheard of.”

In a similarly progressive manor, it’s hinted that Ogilvy may be gay though that is never confirmed. He lives with another man and rumours about his sexuality are discussed momentarily in the series.

The Scottish actor has flipped between dark and light characters through the decades he’s been on screen. He provoked Bond as the high-tech terrorist Victor Zokas in The World Is Not Enough and battled zombies in 28 Weeks Later. He was the fairy tale creature Rumpelstiltskin in Once Upon A Time, who he says dressed like a goblin-sized Steven Tyler.