BBC unveils War of the Worlds trailer after delay

The BBC have released the first trailer for their new adaptation of HG Wells’s The War of the Worlds.

The three-part series will star Rafe Spall, Eleanor Tomlinson, Rupert Graves and Robert Carlyle, who will tell the story of a group of Brits waging war against an alien invasion.

George and Amy (played by Rafe Spall and Eleanor Tomlinson), are a couple attempting to start a new life in London while aliens appear from Mars.

The series will be directed by Craig Viveiros:

“HG Wells’ seminal novel has been adapted for the screen many times, but it’s always had a contemporary (and American) setting,” he said in a statement. “This is the first version to be set in London… during the Edwardian period.”

Writer Peter Harness added: “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: a collision of sci-fi, period drama and horror.”

The series has been in development for almost three years, with this trailer being the first look at how it will look. It was greenlit by the BBC back in 2017 but the series didn’t enter production until early 2018. Around the same time Spall and Tomlinson were cast as its leads and filming began in Liverpool.

There is no official date of release yet, however The War of the Worlds trailer teases that it will debut on BBC One this autumn.