Some stories are simply timeless. HG Wells’ ‘The War Of The Worlds’ is more than a century old at this point, yet continues to see new reimaginings— we’ll probably be seeing adaptations of this classic tale until martians really do land on Earth! Throughout those numerous attempts, capturing the spirit of ‘The War Of The Worlds’ hasn’t always been easy: perhaps it really is Jeff Wayne’s 1978 musical rendition that best balances the imposing nature of this alien invasion story against its weirder, more fantastical side. At the very least, the show has proven about as timeless as its source material, continuing to tour almost fifty years later! It’s as bombastic as it is striking, putting the sheer spectacle of most any other big-budget musical to shame.

Though the sheer torrent of impressive visuals throughout the musical may have been its biggest takeaway (as we’ll rave about below), it’s the show’s score that truly had us spellbound— the project was an album before it ever took to the stage, after all. Jeff Wayne himself conducted the entire show, leading not one but two separate bands! The stage was taken up by an impressive musical ensemble: one half was dominated by the the classical setup of the ULLAdubULLA strings, while the show’s more unconventional timbres were left to the collection of players in the Black Smoke Band. The resulting sound was both intensely nostalgic and deeply unsettling: bombastic orchestral arrangements gave way to dissonant synthesiser melodies, plucky mandolin inclusions, soaring guitar solos, and all-manner of punchy progressive rock elements. 

The show wove its way between epic compositions typical of the big-budget musical— the melancholic balladry of ‘Forever Autumn’ and the bombastic swells of ‘Thunder Child’ made for a truly thrilling climax to the first act— and strange, alien soundscapes (like the haunting ambience of ‘The Red Weed’), capturing the 1978 original tastefully. The sheer oddity of Jeff Wayne’s compositions lends the musical a timelessness, as even the vast majority of modern writers could scarcely think of such wild and wonderful ideas as these: after all, why simply play a sound effect to signify the firing of the heat ray when a guitar talk box could be used instead? 2025’s ‘The Spirit Of Man Tour’ is about as faithful to the show’s original 2006 run as humanly possible, and its musical magic has yet to wear off.

‘The War Of The Worlds’ advertises itself as more of a musical than a concert though: despite the heavy emphasis on the massive number of players onstage at all times, it still falls upon a live cast to convey this classic tale effectively. In the particular case of ‘The War Of The Worlds’ though, ‘live’ cast is something of a misnomer: less than 10 performers make up the show’s touring ensemble, with a number of roles being relegated to pre-recorded displays instead. Chief among this is Liam Neeson as the journalist, who appears in holographic form throughout the show. Though his inclusion is certainly a gimmick, it’s an effective one— Neeson appeared near-lifelike among the other actors, even managing to punch an in-person performer in an inspired moment of stage combat.

The majority of our praise should really be reserved for the touring cast members though, who brought the show to life via a series of impressive sung performances. Nathan James’ boisterous tenor vocals had ‘Thunder Child’ jumping off the speakers, ripping through blistering high notes like they were nothing to him. Conversely, Max George (of The Wanted), Maisie Smith and Rou Reynolds all brought much more emotional intensity to their roles, selling moments of despair and fear even more purposefully than the show’s soundtrack manages: usually underwhelming moments like ‘The Spirit Of Man’ and ‘Brave New World’ were improved tenfold by the gravity of their performances, while the show’s best moments only seemed more vivid and wondrous. Of course, no cast is without its less-impressive aspects: Charlie Simpson’s showing as the sung thoughts of the journalist generally left us a little cold as an unfortunate stiffness tended to settle in whenever he appeared.

We’re beating around the bush though: arguably the main draw of Jeff Wayne’s The War Of The Worlds is its visual spectacle, and we can’t go any further without giving it its flowers. Where most big-budget musicals are content to centre themselves around a single point of impressive excess— think of the swinging chandelier from ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ or the barricade from ‘Les Misérables’— this sci-fi epic attempts to cram as many in as possible. The shining star atop the heap was the gigantic martian tripod that hung over the stage, shooting fire from its heat ray: it was a show piece, and a stunning one at that, though we were equally impressed with the hulking bridge that lowered itself over a sizeable chunk of the audience, bringing the performers out into the centre of the arena. Every element on display was in a constant battle to steal the show, from the ‘disappearing woman’ trick in ‘The Spirit Of Man’ to the constant use of trapdoors and sweeping lighting choices: the Jeff Wayne version lived up to HG Wells’ ambitions, bringing the martian invasion to life like never before.

Ironically, it’s in its reverence for the show’s origins that ‘The Spirit Of Man Tour’ most faltered: though the show was all-around futuristic, it’s also showing its age in places. The Achilles heel of the musical’s visual prowess was its use of computer graphics, which are surely in need of an upgrade— though the early 2000s animation on display could be charming at times, it clashed with the otherwise expertly curated visual elements harshly, often dragging us out of the experience. Along similar lines, any issues with the original score continue to pervade this incredibly faithful rendition: ‘Brave New World,’ in particular, was quite the stumbling block in the second act, dragging its simple comedic premise out for much too long. Though these criticisms were mostly minor gripes with an otherwise spectacular rendition of the show, it’s nonetheless disappointing to see such a promising production faltering in its finer details.

Just like its martian antagonists, Jeff Wayne’s adaptation of The War Of The Worlds is a strange beast: caught between the minimal staging of a concert and the visual excess of a musical, it’s a creature all its own. The show leaps across time itself to craft its own identity— incorporating a setting from the early 20th-century, the power balladry of the 70s, computer graphics of the early 2000s and progressive rock musings of the future— and audiences are clearly still captivated by this classic tale. Even if the show is begging for an upgrade in places, we can’t deny just how overpowering the overall presentation of this tour was: Jeff Wayne got a standing ovation here in Nottingham, and the honour was well deserved.