Series Description

War Of The Worlds was a 60 minute sci-fi series that aired in syndication. It was based on the 1938 War of the Worlds Radio Show by Orson Welles and the 1953 movie, also titled War of the Worlds. The premise of the series was that aliens had come to Earth in 1938 to check out Earth's defenses and then returned in 1953 to take over the Earth but were defeated by an Earthly virus. Now, 35 years later in 1988, it is discovered that all of the aliens did not die, rather, some of them were kept alive in storage tanks and have now escaped. The aliens are once more determined to take over the Earth and its up to a special team to stop them!

War Of The Worlds Cast

Jared Martin .... Dr. Harrison Blackwood / Narrator
Lynda Mason Green .... Dr. Suzanne McCullough
Richard Chaves .... Lt. Col. Paul Ironhorse
Philip Akin .... Norton Drake
Corinne Conley .... Mrs. Pennyworth
Rachel Blanchard .... Debi McCullough
Adrian Paul .... John Kincaid
Julian Richings .... Ardix
Catherine Disher .... Mana
Denis Forest .... Malzor

War Of The Worlds Trivia

The aliens on War of the Worlds were from the planet "Mortax", forty light-years from Earth.

The team responsible for stopping the aliens was made up of a military type, a computer whiz, a microbiologist and an astrophysicist. They worked out of a secret military headquarters known as, "The Cottage".

The aliens operated out of an abandoned nuclear test site in Nevada under the direction of their leaders known as "The Advocates".

The aliens had the ability to "absorb" human bodies and assume their identity. They were detectable, however, as their human bodies contained a high level of radiation which would slowly cause the body to decompose. In fact, their bodies would completely dissolve when killed. Even when not killed, their decomposition required them to change bodies every day!

The writers of three of the War Of The Worlds first season episodes were credited with "pen names". Episode #3, "The Walls of Jericho" by Forrest van Buren; episode #10, "The Good Samaritan" by Sylvia Clayton; and episode #11, "Epiphany" by Sylvia van Buren. Those names were concocted using variation on the names of the two main characters in 1953 film, "War of the Worlds". Those names were Clayton Forrester and Sylvia van Buren.

In the second season, the series title was changed from "The War of the Worlds" to "The War of the Worlds - The Second Invasion". New aliens came to Earth from the planet "Morthrai" when it was destroyed. It turned out that the aliens from "Mortax" were actually soldiers, sent as a "first wave" by the aliens from "Marthrai". The "soldiers" all get executed in the first episode of the second season as punishment for their failure to conquer Earth. One reason for this change was that the new aliens no longer needed to change bodies each day and, therefore, the actors playing them could appear on several episodes.

In the final episode of The War Of The Worlds, the aliens from "Morthrai" realize that their leader is evil and they kill him. Then they decide to live on Earth peacefully with we humans.

Only the main two actors, Jared Martin and Lynda Mason Green, appeared in every single episode.

Opening Narrative

"In 1953 Earth experienced a War of the Worlds. Common bacteria stopped the aliens but it didn't kill them. Instead the aliens lapsed into a state of deep hybernation. Now the aliens have been resurrected, more terrifying than before. In 1953 aliens started taking over the world ... today they're taking over our bodies."