Radio Index
The War of the Worlds
Description
1967 BBC Version. The most well-known radio show of all time is THE MERCURY THEATER OF THE AIR presentation of 'War of the Worlds' directed by Orson Welles, scripted by Howard Koch. This H. G. Wells classic science fiction story may also be one of the most-often dramatized works on radio. Besides Welles' October 30, 1938 rendering, there are others: a 1957 Australian version (6 30-minute episodes), a 1955 Lux Radio Theater adaptation of George Pal's film (1 hour), a 1961 West Coast version centered on San Francisco (1 hour), a 1957 South African version (30-minute episodes), a 1964 WPEN Portland OR re-enactment of the Koch script, a 1968 WKBW Buffalo NY re-make of the Koch script, and numerous others plus a couple of readings. The British Broadcasting Corporation presented their version first in 1950 and again in 1967, both times as a series of 6 30-minute episodes. The 1950 version is not believed to have survived; the 1967 version has survived. It places the action in 1967 but stays close to H.G. Wells' original. Sound effects and acting are first rate. Most copies available are not of pristine quality. Audition Show: none.
The War of the Worlds is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells about an attempted invasion of Earth by beings from the planet Mars with much greater intelligence and more advanced weapons than humans. The Martians intend to eliminate mankind and conquer Earth because their own older and smaller world has reached the "last stage of exhaustion". It was written between 1895 and 1897, and serialised in Pearson's Magazine in the UK and Cosmopolitan magazine in the US in 1897. The full novel was first published in hardcover in 1898 by William Heinemann.
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