Included dates in the UK and the Netherlands. Featured the addition of Carrie's father as a new character and lyrics to "Life Begins Again". A prologue was performed as a pre-show segment with the characters performing among the audience rather than on stage. Featured actor Callum O'Neill who portrayed H.G. Wells in three separate stages of his life. War of the Worlds was re-mounted in 2007 with small adjustments making use of new technologies, touring Australia, New Zealand and the UK. Following lengthy negotiations, Universal Pictures agreed to film Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds live. The show was filmed live on April 25th, 2006 at Wembley Arena. The Journalist's account begins later that year, with the sighting of several bursts of green gas which, for ten consecutive nights, erupt from the surface of Mars and appear to approach Earth. Ogilvy, an astronomer convinced that no life could exist on Mars, assures the Journalist there is no danger. Eventually, something crashes onto Horsell Common, and in the resulting crater Ogilvy discovers a glowing cylinder, the top of which begins to unscrew. When this lid falls off, a Martian creature emerges. By now a crowd has gathered on the common, and when a group of inquisitive men approaches the cylinder they are incinerated by the Heat-Ray—an advanced Martian weapon. The Journalist flees with the crowd. Later, hammering sounds are heard from the pit. A company of soldiers is deployed at the common, and that evening an injured and exhausted Artilleryman wanders into the Journalist's house and tells him his comrades have been killed by fighting machines—tripod vehicles built and controlled by Martians, each armed with its own Heat-Ray. They set off for London—the Journalist to ensure his lover Carrie is safe, the Artilleryman to report to headquarters—but are soon caught in a crossfire between soldiers and Martians and are separated. Three days later the Journalist arrives at Carrie's house but finds it empty. He resolves to escape London by boat and later catches sight of Carrie aboard a steamer, but the gangplank is raised before he can join her. Fighting machines then approach, threatening the steamer, but they are engaged by the Royal Navy battleship Thunder Child and two are destroyed. The steamer escapes, but Thunder Child is destroyed and her crew are lost by the Martian heat-rays, leaving England defenceless against the invasion.

In 1984 CRL Group PLC released Jeff Wayne's Video Game Version of The War of the Worlds for the Sinclair ZX Spectrum home computer. This was released in Germany as Jeff Wayne's Video Version von Der Krieg der Welten. Shea, Christopher D. (20 March 2016). " 'War of the Worlds' Shape-Shifts Onto the London Stage". The New York Times . Retrieved 21 March 2016. Musical Version Of "The War Of The Worlds" ". Dutch Charts . Retrieved 25 October 2023. {{ cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= ( help)

Release

New Zealand album certifications – Jeff Wayne – War of the Worlds". Recorded Music NZ . Retrieved 4 March 2020. a b c d Burrows, Alex (26 September 2020). "The story behind Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds". Loudersound . Retrieved 16 February 2022. Jeff Wayne's original album is without a doubt 10/10 perfect timeless classic. It was a totally original concept album featuring legendary narration by Richard Burton and wonderful electronic music while also telling a faithful and enjoyable adaptation of H G Wells story. Many years after its first release, and by which time it was a classic album in many households, Jeff Wayne created a live tour to perform his work live to the masses. The 2006 recording of the original tour was a lot of fun too and brought to life the classic sounds which for many years were 2-dimensional only. The singers were excellent and the musical performers excellent. There is a video that runs behind the performers which helps visually tell the story. This helped bring the actual heart of the story to life in a way that always seemed secondary to the music when one is listening to an album. So watching the live tour is another way to experience and to bring to life the wonderful classic piece of musical work.

Album of the week - Various Artists: The War of the Worlds" (PDF). Music Week. 3 June 1978. p.46 . Retrieved 17 February 2022– via World Radio History.

Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Diverse; 'War of the Worlds ')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie . Retrieved 16 November 2019. In January 1975, [6] Wayne and his father acquired the rights to adapt the work from Wells's estate, which at the time was overseen by Wells's son Frank. Wayne spent three months locating Frank Wells, and found his ideas were well received because it was the first adaptation that stayed true to the story. [4] Wayne was aware of the famous 1938 radio drama adaptation directed and narrated by Orson Welles, but he wanted to stay close to the original story and set his version in Victorian England. [4] From the start Wayne saw his adaptation as an opera, with "story, leitmotifs, musical phrases, sounds and compositions that relate to the whole." [3] He wanted the music to have a "big, symphonic" sound when humans were telling the story, and a more aggressive and electric-based sound when the Martians were in action. [8] Wayne started by "organising a cast of characters", while having the book adapted to fit the content of the songs he had outlined for it by Doreen Wayne, his future stepmother who at the time was an established script writer and journalist. [9] Wayne used artistic license to create a love interest by replacing The Journalist's brother for Carrie, his wife. [10] At the same time, Wayne started to write the score and recorded demos in the studio, paying particular attention to how Wells originally wrote the story as a series of episodes with multiple cliff hangers to each chapter. [7] [3] Wayne recalled that he "wanted to have a bit of pressure" applied to the project in January 1976, so he booked studio time at Advision Studios in Fitzrovia, London for May of that year. The idea proved to be a productive for Wayne, who completed a draft of the entire work in six weeks. [3] Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrateded.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p.19. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. Canadian album certifications – Various Artists – War of the Worlds". Music Canada . Retrieved 16 November 2019. Miller, Thomas Kent. Mars in the Movies: A History. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2016. ISBN 978-0-7864-9914-4.