I was so disappointed with this series. With modern CGI and some decent scriptwriting (rather than the usual leftist dross that Auntie prefers these days), WOTW COULD have been a really good watch. As it was, it left me wondering how fast Herbert was spinning in his grave.
It was just so dreadfully slow. I wonder whether the BBC tried to pad it out in order to fill three episodes instead of two… or even one.
It wasn’t the WotW at all, it was some kind of love story, the Martians just being a backdrop to the story. Crap. I stopped watching it halfway through the final episode - I couldn’t take it any more.
The Beeb have some more classics lined up for Christmas - wonder if they’ll manage to balls them up with their politically correct social message?
Will Lucy in Dracula be transgender, will Bob Cratchit be in a same-sex civil partnership, and one of the ghosts be from a black or ethnic minority?
Wouldn’t surprise me. Watch this space.
It wouldn’t be any surprise at all.
I watch very little BBC these days, not just because they have become so PC, more because simply most of their programmes are crap.
I’ve just re-read, “War of the Worlds” in case I was miss-remembering it.
It seems like someone either didn’t read the story at all or went through each chapter saying, “lets have this instead”!
Leaving out the best bit, which was the guy being trapped with the self-absorbed, disturbed cleric, and murdering him.
It could have been soooo good!
Perhaps they should have given it a different name. Any ideas?
I agree. It was nothing like the original story.
I usually like to keep recordings of good dramas and copy them on to disc. In this instance, though, I just deleted it.
The same thing happened with the BBC’s version of ‘A Christmas Carol’. All sorts of additions and alterations were made to the original story. Whilst this particular programme was more watchable, if a little slow, it was nowhere as good as it could have been and, in my opinion, should have stayed more in keeping with the author’s story.
Rather off-topic, for which I apologise, but does anyone watch any of the ‘amateur’ channels, the ones where they simply buy old films and TV programmes?
Two in particular which I have watched are ‘Talking Pictures’ and ‘Horror’.
One thing I have found with them is their extensive advertising time.
As I understand it, they are legally obliged not to exceed a specified length of time (in each hour) featuring adverts.
However, whilst they may observe this, they do seem to include very many ‘forthcoming programme’ adverts which, I assume, are permissible. Even the BBC does this, of course.
I can only assume that this is done simply as ‘padding’: occupying transmission time with rubbish in order to avoid having to pay for actual programmes!
I’ve no objection to the re-imagining of classic stories provided that they adhere to general story. The Sherlock Holmes films with Basil Rathbone are good example of this - the original stories just brought up to date, in this case, the 1940s.
What the BBC do, is to ruin the originals by putting a PC spin on them. Having Carrie in the War of the Worlds depicted as a feminist suffragette and having her as the heroic character is ridiculous. In the book, she barely gets a mention.
Don’t get me started on the flaws with A Christmas Carol, I’ll be here all day. Safe to say it was just another example of the BBC’s politically correct agenda.
I watch Talking Pictures because they show classic films and TV shows from yesteryear as they were originally shown and produced - they just have common sense in putting up warning notices before the start of some of the films.
Horror, is basically a lot of cheaply-made amateur films, usually of the slasher type with the occasional gem thrown in once in a while. It’s also the home of Star Trek Voyager, so I won’t complain about that. 
Exactly. I record more programmes from that channel (I usually record rather than watch ‘live’) than any other - no joking.
Yes. The only programme on that channel which I now watch is Star Trek Voyager (mainly to see Seven of Nine!), but I also enjoyed Space 1999 until that series finished.
I consoled myself by recording the original “Cats” stageshow (I see they’ve ruined that with the film) and listening to Queen’s greatest hits!
Judy Dench as Old Deuteronomy ffs!
I’m no fan of Cats (the musical) - a ridiculous concept. Wouldn’t surprise me if T.S. Eliot is spinning in his grave. If you thought that the god-awful Memories could get any worse, along comes Jennifer Hudson to dispel that notion. I had the extreme misfortune to hear her singing part of it and in true diva wailing Whitney style, the abomination was shrieked out at the top of her voice almost making my eardrums bleed. Why do these singers feel the need to scream their heads off in the mistaken belief that it portrays passion and feeling?
Well Ms. Hudson/Mariah Carey et al., it doesn’t.
Incidentally, talking about BBC dramas, there is a new one on New Year’s Day: ‘Dracula’.
I’ve put the recorder on and look forward to seeing it.
I’m hoping that it might be good!
What’s the chances of Dracula being non-binaryor transgender. Perhaps Mina and Lucy will be black also?
ETA. A quick Google later…
A new literary adaptation apparently. Written by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat. For literary adaption, read, nothing like the original. Can’t even see a Lucy or a Van Helsing in the cast list. It would appear that that role is being taken over by a nun (Sister Agata), a minor figure in the original story. Once more, a feminist agenda being pursued by the BBC?
Yes, you’ve got to laugh.
The unbiased BBC making everybody ‘equal’ by over-representing any minorities they can think up!
It keeps everybody happy, of course! :roll:
According to creators Dracula in their version is “the hero of his own story” – the central focus of the narrative, main character, rather than a shadowy villain for more traditional heroes to overcome. Also according to creators, as with their TV series Sherlock, their version of Dracula is both faithful and faithless at the same time, since they’ve taken details from the original novel, added a lot of new stuff [that wasn’t in the novel] and ignored some passages from the novel.
So that’s another production I won’t bother to watch … 
I’ve been Royally disappointed by most of the Beeb’s drama output over the last 12 months or so, I shall not be watching this besides, I dislike horror movies or TV series so, on that note alone, I won’t watch it.
The War of the Worlds TV series was rubbish. Why did they have to shoehorn the love aspect into it? It added nothing worthwhile whatsoever to the plot and I felt it had been added just to pad out the lamentably thin script.
At least I made it to episode two before I gave up, unlike the recent remake of A Christmas Carol in which I didn’t even bother watching. I don’t need more ‘right on’, politically correct, finger-wagging preachiness from the loonies at the BBC.
If they had to compete on a level playing field, I’m sure they’d be obliged to reconsider their bias.
Exactly, the War of the Worlds isn’t an overlong novel so it would have been necessary to throw irrelevant bits into the mix. I do wish they wouldn’t bother doing `re-imaginings and save a bit of money by showing the originals especially where the works of Dickens are concerned.