Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds is a studio double album by American-born British musician, composer, and record producer Jeff Wayne, released on 9 June 1978 by CBS Records. It is an album musical adapted from the science-fiction novel The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells in a rock opera style with a rock band, orchestra, narrator, and leitmotifs to carry the story and lyrics that express the feelings of the various characters. The album features guest artists David Essex, Justin Hayward, Phil Lynott, Chris Thompson, and Julie Covington, with actor Richard Burton as the narrator.
The album became a commercial success, debuting at No. 24 and reaching a peak position of No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart. It won two Ivor Novello Awards, including one for Wayne and main lyricist Gary Osborne for Best Instrumental or Popular Orchestral Work. The album has enjoyed enduring popularity since its release and attracted critical acclaim. It has sold over 2.7 million copies in the UK, and an estimated 15 million copies worldwide. In 2018, it was the UK's 32nd best-selling studio album of all time.
Wayne's adaptation has spawned multiple versions including video games, DVDs, and live stage shows. In 2012, Wayne released a rearrangement of the album, subtitled The New Generation, incorporating more synthesisers and new compositions and dialogue.
Plot summary
Sides one and two: The Coming of the Martians
In a prologue, the Journalist notes that in the last years of the 19th century nobody would have believed that human affairs were being watched from space, yet planet Earth had in fact long been enviously observed by advanced beings who had drawn their plans against humanity.
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 weapon of the Martians. 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 the 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 torpedo ram Thunder Child and two are destroyed. The steamer escapes, but Thunder Child and her crew are destroyed by the Martian heat-rays, leaving England defenceless against the invasion.
Sides three and four: The Earth Under the Martians
The wandering Journalist discovers that red weed—the vegetation that gives Mars its color—has taken root on Earth and spread rapidly across the landscape. In a churchyard, he encounters the Parson Nathaniel and his wife Beth. The trio takes refuge in a nearby cottage that is soon surrounded by black smoke—a Martian chemical weapon. Nathaniel, driven mad by his horrific experiences of the Martian attacks, blames himself for the invasion and believes the invaders are demons arising from human evil. As Beth attempts to restore his faith in humanity, a Martian cylinder crashes into the cottage; Beth is buried under the rubble and killed. The newly arrived Martians construct a handling machine: a squat, spider-like vehicle used to capture and collect humans. After nine days of hiding in the ruins, the Journalist and Nathaniel see the Martians 'eating'—harvesting human blood and injecting it into their own veins. Nathaniel resolves to confront the 'demons', believing that he has been chosen to destroy them with his prayers and holy cross. The Journalist knocks him unconscious to silence his ravings, but the Martians are already alerted. A mechanical claw explores the cottage and drags Nathaniel away. Eventually, the Martians abandon their camp and the Journalist continues his journey to London.
He again encounters the Artilleryman, who is planning a new life underground that would allow humans to evade the Martians and ultimately strike back with reverse-engineered fighting machines. The Journalist, however, realizing the Artilleryman's ambitions far exceed his abilities, soon leaves. Upon reaching London, he finds the city desolate and empty. Driven to suicide by intense despair and loneliness, he surrenders to a fighting machine but realizes it is inert, the Martian inside dead.
In the first epilogue, the Journalist reports that the Martians were defeated by Earth's bacteria—to which they had no resistance—and that, as humanity recovered from the invasion, he was reunited with Carrie. But, he says, the question remains: is Earth now safe, or are the Martians learning from their failures and preparing for a second invasion?
In the second epilogue, set 80 years later, a NASA mission to Mars flounders when the control centre from Pasadena loses contact with the uncrewed spacecraft. The controller sees a green flare erupt from Mars' surface. The controller tries to contact NASA, but all communication seems to have been blocked. The album ends with the fate of the Earth ambiguous, with the possibility of a second Martian invasion.
Character differences from Wells' novel
- The Journalist is an amalgam of two of Wells' characters: a writer of speculative philosophy, who narrates much of the novel, and his younger brother who is a medical student and narrates the flight from London and HMS Thunder Child sequences.
- Carrie, The Journalist's fiancée, does not exist in the novel, where the narrator has an unnamed wife.
- The character of the curate, who is not given a name in the novel, is changed to Parson Nathaniel, who is introduced in the second act instead of prior to the Thunder Child sequence.
- Beth, Parson Nathaniel's wife, also does not exist in the novel.
- The handling machines are not used for collecting humans in the novel. They are instead used for assembling fighting machines.
Production
Background and writing
thumb|right|upright|[[Jeff Wayne in 2014]]
The album originated when Wayne was touring with singer-songwriter David Essex, for whom he also worked as producer and musical director. Wayne felt the composing side of his career "had diminished" by this time, and started looking for a story "to get passionate about" and interpret musically, to which his father Jerry suggested the science-fiction novel The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. The story instantly caught Wayne's imagination, and he finished the book in a single read. He later said that a musical adaptation of other books was possible, and recalled being impressed by Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas by Jules Verne, The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.
In January 1975, 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. At the same time, Wayne started to write the score and record 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. "The Red Weed" was the most difficult piece for Wayne to compose, as he wanted to create "a beautiful melody, and a beautiful dissonance." "Epilogue (Part 2)" was influenced by the Viking program, which saw two space probes land on Mars in 1976. It originally featured Wayne sharing the dialogue with his father Jerry, but "the gulf between his performance and mine was too great, so we sacked me!" Effects were applied to Jerry's voice to make it sound more individual. Lynott was on a Canadian tour with Thin Lizzy when it was time to record his parts, so Wayne organised for his vocals to be recorded there. Wayne is credited as the album's sole producer, with Geoff Young as recording engineer with Laurence Diana assisting. Among the synthesisers used was the Thunderchild SZ3540, a custom made monophonic model built by JWM Electronics. Although his contract with CBS did not guarantee a public release, Wayne consulted his wife and parents who encouraged him to continue and finish the album despite the substantial costs involved in its production. When the album was finished, its cost totalled £240,000, half of which was paid by CBS. The album was released on 9 June; four weeks later, Wayne said he was able to repay CBS its share of the album's costs due to strong sales. Elsewhere, it charted in 22 countries and reached number one in 11 of them including Australia, where it was top for seven weeks. In April 1979, the album exceeded platinum status in the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Australia, and gold certification in Canada, Spain, Israel, and Belgium. The album has earned gold and platinum and multi-platinum sales certifications in 17 countries.
The album spawned two singles. On 2 June 1978, an edited version of "Forever Autumn" was released which went to No. 5 on the UK singles chart. In 1979, the album was named Best Recording in Science Fiction and Fantasy, in a panel of judges that included George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Alfred Hitchcock.
|rev2=Record Mirror
|rev2score=
|rev3=Music Week
|rev3score=(positive)
The album had a positive review in Record Mirror, with reviewer Bev Briggs declaring it as "four sides of sheer excellence" and after reading the novel and watching the feature film, the album is "the most easily stomachable of the lot." She praised the music, ideas, script, and voices, all of which complement each other, but thought the continuous, 95-minute structure forces the listener to digest it straight through. Music Week commented that the album is "superb" and predicted it will become "one of the biggest sellers."
In 2020, writing for Prog, Alex Burrows described the record as "the ultimate concept album and best-selling prog soundtrack of all time", concluding "it's still an album that certainly ticks all the boxes of the true definition of 'progressive': groundbreaking, cutting-edge and seminal." the album includes two versions of a remix of "Dead London" by Apollo 440 and other remixes by house-music pioneer Todd Terry. Following the success of the 2005 re-release of the original album, ULLAdubULLA II was released on 17 April 2006. This single CD release was largely made of tracks from the original remix album, with some additional new remixes by Tom Middleton and DJ Keltech, and hip-hop versions of two tracks by DJ Zube. Middleton's remixes of "The Eve of the War" were also released on CD and vinyl.
In 2025, a deluxe edition re-release including the contents of the previous Collector's Edition, the UllaDubUlla remixes, The New Generation, and recordings of the 2006 Alive on Stage and 2012 Alive on Stage! The New Generation tours, as well as two blu-ray discs containing the video recordings of the two tours, was released. This version comes in two varieties, with the 'Ultimate Edition' also containing the 1978 and 2012 programs on vinyl.
The New Generation
In 2011, Wayne held a press conference in London to announce the release of a new arrangement of the original album, subtitled The New Generation. Wayne explained that the idea was to return to the original album and explore the characters in more detail, and develop the love story between Herbert and his fiancée Carrie. The project also gave Wayne the opportunity to reinterpret his compositions with contemporary production techniques. The album replaces all of the original cast, including actor Liam Neeson as the Narrator and Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson as the Artilleryman. The album was released in November 2012 by Sony Music Entertainment, and peaked at No. 13 in the UK chart. It was supported by an arena tour, followed by a stage show adaptation, running at the Dominion Theatre in London's West End from February to April 2016.
Tours
In September 1978, Wayne had entered negotiations with Paramount Pictures over the film rights and with two concert producers, one of which being Showco, to present a live stage version of the album. The idea came to nothing, and it took Wayne until 2006 to stage a concert tour of the album. The live show, titled Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds – The New Generation: Alive on Stage!, includes a holographic performance of Liam Neeson, interacting with the other performers. Ricky Wilson retains his role as the Artilleryman from the album version. Marti Pellow (lead singer of the Scottish pop group Wet Wet Wet) is the Sung Thoughts of the Journalist. British rock band Jettblack's lead vocalist Will Stapleton is the Voice of Humanity. The touring cast includes Jason Donovan (who previously played the Artilleryman on tour) as Parson Nathaniel and West End theatre star Kerry Ellis as Beth. Michael Falzon and Lily Osborne appear as new characters William Rowland and Vera May respectively, appearing in a new prologue that segues into an updated version of the animation depicting the Martians' preparations for their invasion of Earth, introduced to the tour in 2009. Falzon also plays the small role of NASA controller Jerome Marvin Krauth (voiced by Jerry Wayne, recorded for the original 1978 album) in the Epilogue Part 2, in which he gets blasted by the fighting machine onstage behind him (the original version of Epilogue Part 2 had an abrupt ending) which concludes the show.
Alive on Stage! also includes other new content not featured on The New Generation album, such as a new scene opening Act II between The Journalist (Liam Neeson) and Carrie, his fiancée (Anna-Marie Wayne). This new piece, entitled "Distant Shores", is an exchange between the two after they have been separated and is seen onstage via holographic projections of both characters in which they express hope they may one day see each other again, speaking as though to each other, from distant shores. The show also includes effects used previously on tours including the use of pyrotechnics, now much improved, in which the audience is blasted by real heat rays, leaves fall upon the audience during "Forever Autumn", and a levitation effect is used after Beth is killed during the Spirit of Man.
Bassist Herbie Flowers and Guitarist Chris Spedding, both part of the original 1978 album and later the original 2006 live tour, again tour as members of The Black Smoke Band for Alive on Stage The rest of the band remain relatively unchanged from the album and previous tours, except Gordy Marshall from the album is replaced by Accy Yeats on drums. Jeff Wayne conducts The Black Smoke Band and the ULLAdubULLA Strings as he has done on tours before. On 15 December Michael Falzon announced on Facebook, as did Kerry Ellis and Will Stapleton on Twitter, that the sold-out show at the O2 Arena in London was to be filmed for DVD release, distributed by Universal; this was confirmed by the official website. The DVD film was later shown on Universal's The Shows Must Go On! YouTube channel on 23 October 2020 and was available for that weekend. This release was dedicated to Falzon, who died on 23 June 2020 from germ cell cancer and included a link to a donation page for the Chris O'Brien Lifehouse where he was treated.
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+List of The New Generation European tour 2012-2013 dates
! colspan="2" scope="col" |Date
! scope="col" |Venue
! scope="col" |Location
|-
!November
|29
|3Arena
|Dublin
|-
! rowspan="13" |December
|1
|Echo Arena
|Liverpool
|-
|2–3
|Motorpoint Arena
|Cardiff
|-
|4
|Capital FM Arena
|Nottingham
|-
|6
|Wembley Arena
|London
|-
|7
|Barclaycard Arena
|Birmingham
|-
|8
|Manchester Arena
|Manchester
|-
|9
|Motorpoint Arena
|Sheffield
|-
|10
|Metro Radio Arena
|Newcastle
|-
|11
|Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
|Glasgow
|-
|13–14
|Bournemouth International Centre
|Bournemouth
|-
|15
|O2 Arena
|London
|-
|16–17
|Brighton Centre
|Brighton
|-
|19
|Rotterdam Ahoy Arena
|Rotterdam
|-
! rowspan="6" |January
|-
|4
|König Pilsener Arena
|Oberhausen
|-
|5
|O2 World
|Berlin
|-
|7
|Nuremberg Arena
|Nuremberg
|}
2014: The Final Arena tour
In November 2013, it was confirmed that Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds – The New Generation would tour arenas again in late November through December 2014 for The Final Arena tour. Tickets went on sale 22 November 2013. The tour took place across the UK and the Netherlands, beginning in Sheffield on 27 November 2014 and coming to a close on 16 December 2014 in Amsterdam. Three of the guest performers were confirmed at the time of the tour announcement. Westlife's Brian McFadden played the role of the Sung Thoughts of the Journalist (played by Martin on the previous tour), Les Misérables Carrie Hope Fletcher played Beth (played by Kerry Ellis on the 2012 tour), and Jason Donovan reprised his role of Parson Nathaniel. At the time, Jeff Wayne also announced that another guest had been confirmed but was yet to be announced. Later announcements confirmed Shayne Ward as the Artilleryman, Joseph Whelan as the Voice of Humanity, and Jonathan Vickers as the NASA Controller (voiced again by Jerry Wayne). Other changes included adding the character of Carrie's Father (actor Nigel Barber) and lyrics to the song "Life Begins Again".
Later in the year, the final guest was announced as actor Callum O'Neill, who portrayed H.G. Wells on stage in three separate stages of his life. After the William Rowland and Vera May prologue was moved into a pre-show (with the characters performing among the audience rather than on stage), O'Neill appeared in a new prologue as a 33-year-old Wells, opening the show with a speech about 19th century England during the dying moments of 1899. He introduces himself and his work on The War of the Worlds before the on-screen introduction of the Martians. Later, just before Act II begins, O'Neill appears again as a 53-year-old Wells, discussing the end of World War I and speaking about the destructive capabilities of humankind. O'Neill appears a final time at the end of the show, just before the NASA epilogue, this time as a 79-year-old Wells, elderly and in a wheelchair. Set just after the end of World War II, he is dying but now speaks about the extent of atrocities committed during the recent war, how human beings can, in some shapes and forms, be as destructive as the Martians had been in his novel.
The Final Arena tour ended on 16 December 2014 in Amsterdam. Speaking about the last show, Jeff Wayne said, "Bringing The War of the Worlds to life in many of the world's finest arenas has been the most amazing experience for me over the last seven years. We've achieved more than we ever thought was possible both musically and technologically. However, the time is right to take The War of the Worlds in new directions after the 2014 tour."
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+List of The Final Arena European tour 2014 dates
! colspan="2" scope="col" |Date
! scope="col" |Venue
! scope="col" |Location
|-
! rowspan="4" |November
|27
|Motorpoint Arena
|Sheffield
|-
|28
|Echo Arena
|Liverpool
|-
|29
|SSE Hydro
|Glasgow
|-
|30
|Manchester Arena
|Manchester
|-
! rowspan="10" |December
|2
|Capital FM Arena
|Nottingham
|-
|3
|Metro Radio Arena
|Newcastle
|-
|5
|LG Arena
|Birmingham
|-
|6
|First Direct Arena
|Leeds
|-
|7-8
|Motorpoint Arena
|Cardiff
|-
|10-11
|Bournemouth International Centre
|Bournemouth
|-
|13
|O2 Arena
|London
|-
|14-15
|Brighton Centre
|Brighton
|-
|16
|Heineken Music Hall
|Amsterdam
|}
2016: West End production
It was announced that The War of the Worlds was to make its theatrical debut in a "re-imagined" West End production at the Dominion Theatre in London's West End, produced by Wayne and Bill Kenwright. It ran from 8 February to 30 April 2016 Due to the indisposition of Daniel Bedingfield during the run, the Artilleryman was played by understudy and West End performer Simon Shorten for several shows; later Shorten took over as the Artilleryman for the remaining month of the run. Several musical changes were made for the West End production including a key change for the song "Thunder Child", a new song written for the production titled "With Joy and Hope and Wonder", as well as a "Forever Autumn" duet at the beginning of Act II.
The 2016 West End production of Jeff Wayne's The War of The Worlds received mixed reviews.
2018: 40th Anniversary tour
In early 2018, Jeff Wayne announced that The War of The Worlds would be touring again with a special limited two-month UK Tour celebrating the album's 40th anniversary. A new setup of staging, choreography, costumes, and cast of actors was introduced. Liam Neeson's narration and holography were once again used in the show. Newton Faulkner starred as the Sung Thoughts of the Journalist, Adam Garcia as the Artilleryman, Anna-Marie Wayne as Carrie, Inglorious Nathan James as The Voice of Humanity, Jason Donovan returned to play Parson Nathaniel, Carrie Hope Fletcher again as Beth, Lily Osborne reprised her role as Vera May, and Jonathan Vickers again played the NASA Controller. The new song for the 40th Anniversary tour, which was first seen in the 2016 West End production, was a reprise of "Forever Autumn". This was performed by both Anna-Marie Wayne and Newton Faulkner as their respective characters at the beginning of Act II.
The cast of players for the 40th Anniversary tour received critical acclaim, with many praising the acting, singing, and chemistry between Jason Donovan and Carrie Hope Fletcher during "The Spirit of Man". Nathan James' performance as the Voice of Humanity also received praise, and the inclusion of Anna-Marie Wayne as Carrie was also acclaimed.
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+List of 40th Anniversary tour 2018 dates
! colspan="2" scope="col" |Date
! scope="col" |Venue
! scope="col" |Location
|-
!November
|30
|SSE Hydro
|Glasgow
|-
! rowspan="10" |December
|1
|Metro Radio Arena
|Newcastle
|-
|2
|Manchester Arena
|Manchester
|-
|4
|First Direct Arena
|Leeds
|-
|5
|Echo Arena
|Liverpool
|-
|7
|Motorpoint Arena
|Nottingham
|-
|8
|Genting Arena
|Birmingham
|-
|9-10
|Motorpoint Arena
|Cardiff
|-
|12-13
|Bournemouth International Centre
|Bournemouth
|-
|15
|O2 Arena
|London
|-
|16-17
|Brighton Centre
|Brighton
|}
The True Story of the Martian Invasion (cancelled 2021 tour)
In March 2020, Jeff Wayne announced a new tour of The War of the Worlds for 2021 with new technological advances being added to the production. Liam Neeson's filmed footage would be used once again. The True Story of the Martian Invasion would journey across the UK as well as Amsterdam (for the first time since 2014) during March and April 2021. This would mark the 15th anniversary of the first War of the Worlds live tour, based on the 1978 album, which began in the UK and Ireland in April 2006. The press release announced "new features for the 2021 tour include the giant arched bridge now running from the lip of the stage out over the audience to the front of house desk" and "three panoramic screens with two hours of cutting edge CGI". The release touted the usual "big and bold lighting, pyrotechnics and other-worldly special effects, as well as a ground-breaking levitation effect". The release mentioned "the incineration of a cast member in full view of the audience" and "the release of deadly Black Smoke from the Martian Fighting Machine". The press release compared the planned 2021 tour to its original 2006 counterpart: "In 2006, TWOTW was already considered a cutting-edge production with six trucks filled to the brim. But in 2021, which marks a momentous 15 years of live touring, the production is up to 12 trucks, and with it, a host of ingredients and special effects that will challenge and excite the senses."
By 10 September 2020, it was announced that The True Story of the Martian Invasion would be cancelled due to laws that were brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic prohibiting the number of individuals that could be present during indoor events.
2022: Life Begins Again tour
On 10 September 2020, Jeff Wayne announced the Life Begins Again 2022 tour. The announcement discussed the postponement of its previously announced 2021 UK and European Tour. The Life Begins Again tour is named after an existing song within the Musical Version, a song about life returning to normal following the Martians' failure to foresee Earth's bacteria. "Now, mankind will look forward to life beginning again", said the press release.
The tour featured former Strictly Come Dancing dancer Kevin Clifton as the Artilleryman and Steps'<nowiki/> Claire Richards as Beth. On 28 September 2021, the full cast was announced, including Duncan James as Parson Nathaniel, Nathan James again playing his role of The Voice of Humanity, Anna-Marie Wayne as Carrie; the Journalist's Fiancé, and, from the original 1978 album, Justin Hayward as The Sung Thoughts of the Journalist. Liam Neeson's holographic footage was once again used in the show. Callum O'Neill reprised his role from the 2014 Final Arena tour as H.G. Wells (although this time his performance was shown on screen, rather than live). Jonathan Vickers reprised his role as the NASA controller, and Stephanie Aves joined the company as Vera May.
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+List of Life Begins Again UK & European tour 2022 dates
! colspan="2" scope="col" |Date
! scope="col" |Venue
! scope="col" |Location
|-
! rowspan="5" |March
|23
|Motorpoint Arena
|Nottingham
|-
|24
|Utilita Arena
|Birmingham
|-
|26
|Motorpoint Arena
|Cardiff
|-
|27-28
|Brighton Centre
|Brighton
|-
|29-30
|Bournemouth BIC
|Bournemouth
|-
! rowspan="7" |April
|1
|AO Arena
|Manchester
|-
|2
|SSE Hydro
|Glasgow
|-
|3
|first direct Arena
|Leeds
|-
|5
|Bonus Arena
|Hull
|-
|6
|M&S Bank Arena
|Liverpool
|-
|7
|Utilita Arena
|Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
|-
|9
|O2 Arena
|London
|-
|}
2025: Spirit of Man tour
2026: Live! The Concert Experience tour
Related works in other media
Video games
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.
In 1998, a real-time strategy game, Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds, was created by Rage Software for personal computers. Wayne produced the musical arrangements for the game, consisting of 45 minutes of material rescored and remixed in a newer electronica style with techno beats. The game's artwork was based on the Michael Trim, Geoff Taylor and Peter Goodfellow illustrations from the original album booklet. Some of Richard Burton's dialogue as the journalist is used in the opening and closing scenes. Nigel Hawthorne and Lewis MacLeod voiced the human and Martian generals respectively.
In 1999, a third-person shooter, also entitled Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds, was developed by Pixelogic and released for the Sony PlayStation. It used much of the 1998 game's music and graphical elements, but featured an entirely different campaign with a focus on vehicular combat.
Unrealized animated film
In late 2004 the ULLAdubULLA II production had been commissioned for an animated CGI film version. Test footage of some Martian machines was released, but the film itself never materialised.
DVD
A two disc Region 2 DVD of the 2006 Wembley Arena, London show was released 6 November 2006 by Universal. Disc 1 contains the live show and Disc 2 contains extras and a documentary of the making of the live show. It is titled Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of The Worlds – Live on Stage.
The 2012 Alive on Stage! tour at the O2 Arena was recorded and released across cinemas in the UK and Europe in April 2013. The recorded show was well received in a series of platform digital screenings in the UK before it transitioned to home entertainment; it was released on DVD in November 2013. DVD releases of The Final Arena and 40th Anniversary tours are unlikely to ever come to fruition.
The Musical Drama
On 15 October 2018 it was announced on the album's official Facebook page and website that after over a year in work, an audiobook rendition would be available on Audible.com on 29 November 2018. This five hour-long Audible Original Production featured new story and musical content. The cast included Michael Sheen as the journalist, Taron Egerton as the artilleryman, Ade Edmondson as Ogilvy, Theo James as Parson Nathaniel and Jeff Wayne's daughter Anna Marie Wayne as Carrie, the wife of the journalist.
The Immersive Experience
In May 2019, Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds: The Immersive Experience opened to the public in London. Set across 22,000 sq. ft of space, the 2-hour production combined music from the album, immersive theatre and virtual reality, holograms, and other techniques. The cast includes Tom Brittney, Anna Marie Wayne, Carrie Hope Fletcher, and David Burnett, joined by a live cast of twelve actors. On April 30, 2026, it was announced that The Immersive Experience had closed after Ellipsis Entertainment had ceased operating. This followed a £400,000 upgrade and attempts by The Jeff Wayne Music Group to take over the production.
Track listing
All music was written by Jeff Wayne, and all lyrics were written by Wayne, Paul Vigrass and Gary Osborne. All tracks (except for “Epilogue (Part 2) (NASA)”) feature narration by Richard Burton, with dialogue written by Doreen Wayne.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the 1978 LP and 2005 CD liner notes.
- Jeff Wayne – piano, jangle piano, harpsichord,
| align="center"| 1
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! scope="row"| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
| align="center"| 2
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! scope="row"| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
| align="center"| 2
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! scope="row"| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)
| align="center"| 16
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|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (1995–97)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
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|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
|-
! scope="col"| Chart (2005–06)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
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! scope="row"| Australian Albums (ARIA)
| align="center"| 22
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Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col" | Chart (1978)
! scope="col" | Position
|-
! scope="row" | Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)
| 6
|-
! scope="row" | Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)
|6
|-
! scope="row" | New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
|2
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col" | Chart (1979)
! scope="col" | Position
|-
! scope="row" | New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)
| 22
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col" | Chart (1991)
! scope="col" | Position
|-
! scope="row" | Australia Albums (ARIA)
| 55
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|-
! scope="col" | Chart (1996)
! scope="col" | Position
|-
! scope="row" | Australia Albums (ARIA)