A whole new BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of HG Wells’s popular story of the brutal Martian invasion of Earth.

When strange explosions are observed on the surface of Mars, excitement spreads among the scientific community. Surrey astronomer Ogilvy invites his friend Robert towards the observatory to see the turbulence on the red planet.

Ten days later, Ogilvy discovers a strange projectile about Horsell Common – with something inside. Robert rushes to see the craft, and is present when about The War of the Worlds: BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation Martians emerge and change their temperature rays around the locals, who are waving white flags. It is the beginning of the merciless invasion…

As Robert flees in search of safety, along with a young curate, young soldier Billy experiences the chaos taking place in London. As the Martians take control, changing the landscaping and decimating the populace, is this the finish for the human race? Wells’s terrifying technology fiction tale, first published in 1898, is normally both a representation of Victorian anxieties of a arriving apocalypse and a critique of British imperialism. This enthralling dramatisation asks how humankind would fare if colonised with a vastly superior technical invader.

It stars Blake Ritson as Robert, with Samuel Adam as Billy and Carl Prekopp as the Curate.

Length of time: 2 hours approx.