Woking, 1905: married journalist George (Rafe Spall) and science-minded lover Amy (Eleanor Tomlinson) are shunned by corseted society long before the first cylinder lands. Writer Peter Harness keeps the tripod heat but lingers on parlour whispers, giving Amy the agency Wells never granted the narrator’s wife. The result is a domestic siege where neighbours wield class and scandal like bayonets.
Director Craig Viveiros shoots in slate-grey tones that make the Surrey hills feel claustrophobic even before red weed creeps across them. Robert Carlyle’s wild-eyed astronomer Ogilvy supplies frantic exposition, while Rupert Graves’s government aide Frederick embodies imperial blindness. Budget constraints push the aliens off-screen for stretches, yet the panic feels real because Harness stages mass hysteria like a village pageant gone septic.
This is the first British screen version set in the novel’s correct period, and the period trappings—tweed, gas lamps, bicycle clips—are immaculate. The three episodes aired on BBC One between 17 November and 1 December 2019, ending on a chill that lingers longer than any ray-gast flash.
Production Details
BBC One / 1 Season / 3 Episodes / 2019
Created by: Peter Harness
Showrunner(s): Tommy Bulfin, Damien Timmer, Peter Harness
Writer(s): Peter Harness
Producer(s): Betsan Morris Evans
Cinematography: James Friend
Music: Russ Davies
Main Cast
Eleanor Tomlinson as Amy
Rafe Spall as George
Robert Carlyle as Ogilvy
Rupert Graves as Frederick
Kieron Bimpson as Captain
Taliyah Blair as Lilian
Nicholas Le Prevost as Chamberlain
Harry Melling as Artilleryman
Susan Wooldridge as Mrs. Elphinstone
Jonathan Aris as Priest
Jonathan Cheetham as Frederick's Secretary
Aisling Jarrett-Gavin as Lucy
