H G Wells

The War of the Worlds H G Wells

Paul Daneman stars in a full-cast radio dramatization of H. G. Wells seminal sci-fi classic

They came in cylinders as dreaded falling stars; they were the ultimate killing machines...

When a Martian spacecraft crash-lands near Woking, mankind is terrorized by aliens in tall, armored capsules that stalk the countryside on three legs. The frightening machines wreak havoc on London and the Southern Counties with their heat-rays, and survivors are driven underground.

Yet it all began in the calm of an observatory... While scanning the heavens, scientist John Nicholson (Paul Daneman) sees a shower of meteorites heading towards Earth. But what he is witnessing is, in fact, the beginnings of an invasion. Soon, dense black smoke wipes out vast numbers of the population, and Nicholson tells how he was plunged into a paralyzing nightmare of stark terror and utter destruction.

Martin Jarvis, Peter Sallis and Anthony Jackson are also featured in this thrilling six-part, full-cast dramatization of H. G. Wells classic novel.

Now released forty years after its first broadcast in 1967, "The War of the Worlds" is an immensely atmospheric recording based on one of the most influential stories ever told.

This CD release also includes a detailed sleeve note recounting the making of the radio adaptation, written by Andrew Pixley.

Dramatized by Jon Manchip White. Produced by John Powell

First broadcast: BBC Home Service, June 9, 1967. Last broadcast: BBC Home Service, July 14, 1967. Number of episodes: Six

CAST & CREDITS

John Nicholson: Paul Daneman; Dora Nicholson, his wife: Isabel Rennie; Ogilvy, his assistant: Martin Jarvis; Sir James Stent, the Astronomer Royal: Harold Kasket; Sergeant Holroyd / Man s Voice*: Alan Dudley; 1st Boy: LeRoy Lingwood; 2nd Boy: Brian Hewlett; 1st Officer: Christopher Bidmead; 2nd Officer / The Colonel: Ronald Herdman; 3rd Officer: Ian Thompson; The Lieutenant: Anthony Jackson; The Old Gentleman*: Walter Fitzgerald; The Corporal*: Frank Henderson; Crowd: Alan Dudley, Carole Boyd, Rolf Lefebvre; The Parson: Peter Sallis; 1st Spokesman: Denys Hawthorne; 2nd Spokesman: Anthony Hall; Woman s Voice*: Beth Boyd

*Omitted from this BBC Transcription Services recording

Announcer: Jon Curle. The sound score is by David Cain of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

Cover illustration by Frazer Irving"