BBC's 'War Of The Worlds' Trailer Brings The Alien Tripods To Edwardian England

Steven Spielberg had the aliens from H.G. Wells classic sci-fi invasion story War of Worlds tear through Boston and the rest of the modern world back in 2005, which feels like a lifetime ago. Now the BBC is giving the story a new adaptation in the form of a miniseries, but as the War of the Worlds trailer shows, this one throws the invasion back to Edwardian England, bringing the British people of the early 1900s face-to-face with technology the likes of which they've never seen before, truly a nightmare from another world. Watch the BBC War of the Worlds trailer below.

In classic British fashion, the leader of a town in which a strange object has landed from above insists that there's nothing to be worried about. But tell that to Eleanor Tomlinson, Rafe Spall, and Robert Carlysle as they run from the massive mechanic tripods that will surely lay waste to plenty of those old buildings, never giving them a chance to age and become tourist attractions visited by countless double-decker buses.

Peter Harness is behind this three-part miniseries adaptation of The War of the Worlds, which is directed by Craig Viveiros (Rillington Place, And Then There Were None, Silent Witness). At the very least, this gives us a much different take on the material than we've seen on screen before. Almost all adaptations of H.G. Wells' story have been set in the modern time in which the project was produced. But we haven't seen anyone tackle the story in a different era.

Don't forget, this isn't the only War of the Worlds project on the way. Studio Canal has an eight-part adaptation set in modern day Europe on the way too. It will air in Belgium later this month, followed by other parts of Europe and Africa, but it doesn't seem to have a premiere date set in the United States yet, so we may not get to see that one soon.

Here's the official synopsis for the BBC's adaptation of War of the Worlds:

Set in Edwardian England, this new adaptation of H.G. Wells' seminal tale – the first alien invasion story in literature – follows George (played by Rafe Spall) and his partner Amy (Eleanor Tomlinson) as they attempt to defy society and start a life together. Rupert Graves is Frederick, George's elder brother, and Robert Carlyle plays Ogilvy, an astronomer and scientist. The War of the Worlds tells their story as they face the escalating terror of an alien invasion, fighting for their lives against an enemy beyond their comprehension.

BBC's War of the Worlds doesn't have a premiere date yet, so stay tuned.