Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds

I've nearly finished writing the next entry - it's currently over 700 words, with just a couple of paragraphs to go - so I didn't need to delay things; but I decided to post this anyway, for no real reason other than "just because".

I recently watched Timelash for the first time and the presence of H. G. Wells must have stuck in my mind, because when I was randomly flicking through my music CDs looking for something to listen to while cooking (vegetable risotto with goat's cheese and Roquefort plus outdoor reared Yorkshire ham for the non-veggies - very tasty, but quite a bit of prep and it needs watching) this album jumped out at me. So I stuck it on for the first time in well over a decade.

I'm not going to say much about the music, which is very 1970s (a phrase that covers a multitude of different genres); nor about the vocal performances, which in some cases rival Paul Darrow's Tekker for enjoyable scenery-chewing. They're good enough, but I just want to talk about the story; and since I haven't read the book version for at least two decades, this will be my window into that world.

I have a familial connection with the setting of the tale, because back in 1921 my mum was born (and then grew up) in the village of Knaphill - mentioned (and burned) in the book, and close enough to Horsell Common (site of the first cylinder landing) that it was a regular dog-walking spot. Indeed, my aunt and two cousins still live in the area, though none of them now go "car spotting", which involved sitting by the side of the road during the long summer holidays from school, chatting with mates, and when a car came by noting down the number! Similarly, my grandfather was pleased when they painted white lines down the middle of the road because it gave him something to follow when walking home from the pub in the dark! Truly another world.

And speaking of other worlds (see what I did there?), this story is so obviously a major influence on The Dalek Invasion of Earth that I'm surprised I didn't think of it at the time. You have implacable aliens that have evolved to be almost entirely brain encased in hard-to-destroy metal machines killing people with heat-rays. You have a guy in an underground shelter dreaming of building a better world, man on top again, but with an enormous gulf between his dreams and his powers. You have a dead, empty London acting as a symbol for the entire world, you have an alien lifeform that the invaders have brought with them and let loose, you have the invasion defeated by natural forces rather than military might. Heck, there's even a plague, though in this case it's working for us, and an adaptation for the cinema.

Just thought it was worth a mention.

Next Time:
As we wave goodbye to the Doctor's granddaughter for some considerable time, we ask the somewhat ambiguous question, whatever happened to Susan?