War of the Worlds – An Audio History – NEOZAZ

The start of our special “War of the Worlds Week” part of the NEOZAZ.com 2016 Halloween Celebration.

The War of the Worlds radio drama has terrified, fooled and inspired listeners for decades, and this Halloween special traces its audio history from H.G. Wells’ 1897 novel to modern remakes. Host Matt kicks off War of the Worlds Week by explaining his lifelong obsession with the story and why his own long-planned audio production was pushed to 2017.

He starts with a recap of the original Martian invasion novel. Then he goes behind the scenes of the 1938 Mercury Theatre on the Air broadcast starring Orson Welles. Writer Howard Koch disliked the source material and picked Grover’s Mill, New Jersey, by dropping a pencil on a map. One actor modeled his reporter on the Hindenburg disaster coverage.

From there, Matt follows the story around the world and across the decades. He also shares his personal ranking of the versions.

In this episode:

• The 1944 Santiago, Chile adaptation and the tragic 1949 Quito, Ecuador broadcast that ended in a deadly fire
• The BBC’s six-part adaptations from 1950 and 1967
• WKBW Buffalo’s 1968 and 1971 versions, Matt’s all-time favorites, which were performed by real local newsmen
• The 1988 NPR 50th anniversary remake with Jason Robards and Steve Allen
• The L.A. Theatre Works version with an all-Star Trek cast, including Leonard Nimoy
• The 2013 Radio Drama Revival 75th anniversary contest and Big Finish’s Doctor Who story “Invaders from Mars”

Matt also previews the rest of the week. Highlights include live streams of the 1968 WKBW broadcast and the original 1938 Orson Welles production. Whether you’re a classic radio fan or new to audio drama, this is a guided tour of the most famous radio broadcast ever made.