The War of the Worlds review, Culture Whisper
Since the publication of HG Wells' The War of the Worlds in 1898, adaptations have never dried up: from Orson Welles to Steven Spielberg. Like any great piece of literature, it’s endlessly adaptable – not only because of audience demand, but because its themes and messages and images fly seamlessly across time.
Published a year before Joseph Conrad’s controversial, anti-colonialist work Heart of Darkness, The War of the Worlds was a clear allegory against European powers taking over weaker countries. Wells flipped that around, using alien death-machines from Mars. Screenwriter Peter Harness attempts to do the same, and more, in his new three-part BBC adaptation: achieving a frightening, harrowing sci-fi drama that can’t help but recall some unnerving, present-day realities.
