The ’80s War Of The Words Show Changed Key Parts Of H.G. Wells’ Sci-Fi Novel

The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one, which might be why the 1988 TV series, “War of the Worlds,” revealed H.G. Well’s iconic Martians actually came from a different planet altogether. “The War of the Worlds” has been adapted for just about every other medium — from the infamous radio serial that left many confused listeners terrified of an actual invasion, to Jeff Wayne’s musical, and numerous film and television versions. Wells launched a sci-fi property worthy of endless remakes and reinvention, though the 1980s TV version took some serious creative liberties with the author’s classic work.

Hardly the most underrrated sci-fi series of all time, the 1980s “War of the Worlds” never achieved the same iconic status as its precursor — the 1953 film adaptation, to which the show served as a sequel. To continue the story of alien invasion 35 years after the invaders had supposedly been defeated, the series made some major revisions. 1953’s “The War of the Worlds” ended with the revelation that the aliens had been killed by terrestrial bacteria, which was foreign to their immune systems. The 1988 “War of the Worlds” revealed the bacteria had merely put the invaders in a state of suspended animation, from which they were awoken when they were exposed to radiation, killing the germs. The show eventually revealed the aliens came from the planet Mor-Tax, not Mars as previously believed, which was likely a more feasible origin for more scientifically informed audiences in 1988.

Given that “The War of the Worlds” produced one of the most iconic depictions of life on Mars found anywhere in literature or pop culture, the 1988 TV series felt like it was playing fast and loose with a definitive work of science fiction. The change to the aliens’ home planet and reveal that they had not been killed by Earth’s bacteria erased two of the most iconic moments in sci-fi history.

The series, which ran for two seasons between 1988 and 1990, featured other divergences from the iconography of Wells’ work, as well. The 1953 movie already eschewed the novel’s tripods in favor of flying war machines, which were easier to pull off with the visual effects of the time. The TV show went one step further and featured the aliens without access to any war machines at all. Instead, the Mor-Taxans possessed human bodies to conduct their renewed invasion effort.

Following changes to the series’ creative team, “War of the Worlds” Season 2 moved even further away from Wells’ novel and the 1953 movie. Jumping from the present day to a dystopian future setting, the second season replaced the Mor-Taxans with the Morthren from the planet Morthrai. The Morthren wiped out the Mor-Taxans for failing to destroy humanity, leaving little connection between the show’s story and 1953 movie. Instead of possessing humans, the Morthren would clone them to produce duplicates acting as their loyal servants.