Theo Robertson

HG Wells was more than a mere writer. As the opening passage of THE WAR OF THE WORLDS points out few people in the last years of the 19th Century believed in life on other planets. Now just over a hundred years later even eminent scientists state that it's very probable there is other intelligent species in the Universe even though there's no proof. In short this is simply down to HG Wells opening a box releasing an idea that has crept in to the human psyche. So when the BBC stated they were going to produce a faithful adaptation of Wells novel this gave every science fiction fan on the planet to look forward to

Except at a very early stage it was revealed in the pre-publicity that "George and Amy are a couple defying Edwardian society as well as a Martian invasion" As soon as I read this I rolled my eyes knowing I was going to get a Guardian reader manifesto so obsessed with diversity quotas it was going to make current DOCTOR WHO look like it was produced by Tommy Robinson

To be fair this aspect wasn't as overdone as I expected though the romantic subplot is rather soap opera and does tend to jar with the main plot , not helped that it also happens quite randomly and feels like it belongs to another programme entirely. Other self conscious additions to the plotting involves Russian aggression and of course the little Englander attitude to Brexit. As one commentator on this page pointed out it's not a story that needs to be character driven because Wells novel had just about the highest concept story in the history of literature

Apparently there was a long delay between production and broadcast because the special effects were disappointing. Alas however these faults don't seem to be corrected and in some pivotal scenes it appears the money has run out . I'm thinking especially of the initial landing of the Martian "capsule" which seems to resemble a giant cowpat and the subsequent impact of the plot turn is let down by some very bad CGI and one can't help thinking this and a large number of action scenes have been subject to reshoots and drastic editing . I have to be cruel and say Craig Viveiros is a poor director and often reverts to directorial cliché of slow motion and manipulative music . Perhaps worst of all instead of being reminded of HG Wells THE WAR OF THE WORLDS I was reminded several times of John Wyndham's THE KRAKEN WAKES. and I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Actually since it's called THE WAR OF THE WORLDS that can only be a bad thing.

I'll probably watch the rest of the serial but unlike the original novel or the 1978 Jeff Wayne album it's not something that'll be remembered for generations or even a few weeks

ETA The second episode makes the first one look like CITIZEN KANE in comparison

Commentating on an episode like this is very difficult. Just when you think you're watching a very traditional episode like we had with the spiders and the one from last week the episode takes a sharp turn and moves in an entirely different direction. The tone and plot changes every few minutes

Some people might enjoy this but for me it means the audience are getting something very disposable and disjointed , a sort of Hammer horror film , meets THE X FILES meets WALLANDER meets EASTENDERS meets THE MUPPET SHOW . Have I missed anything out ?

That said while I as watching the episode I didn't exactly feel like I was missing the Smith/Capaldi/Moffat years so that's probably the most complimentary thing I can say about this week's mess