Eleanor Tomlinson and Rafe Spall have been confirmed as leading cast members for a new TV production of The War Of The Worlds.
Poldark star Tomlinson will play Amy, the partner of Spall’s George, in BBC One’s adaptation of HG Wells’s classic sci-fi novel.
The three-part series is set in Edwardian England and sees the pair attempting to defy society by starting a life together, against the backdrop of an alien invasion.
A first-look picture from the series, which has started filming in Liverpool, sees Tomlinson and Spall holding hands while running away from an unseen nemesis.
The War Of The Worlds will also star Trainspotting’s Robert Carlyle as Ogilvy, an astronomer and scientist, and Sherlock actor Rupert Graves as George’s elder brother Frederick.
A Mammoth Screen drama, it will be directed by Rillington Place director Craig Viveiros, and adapted by Wallander screenwriter Peter Harness.
Tomlinson said she is “delighted to be taking on the Martians” with Spall in the series, and that “creating this world” with Viveiros is “very exciting”.
Spall, whose acting credits include Prometheus, Life Of Pi and The Big Short, said: “I am thrilled to be a part of bringing this much-loved story to the small screen.
“I couldn’t be in better company with Craig Viveiros, Peter Harness, all at Mammoth Screen and of course, the very talented Eleanor Tomlinson.”
Viveiros said: “HG Wells’s seminal novel has been adapted for the screen may times but it’s always had a contemporary (and American) setting, this is the first version to be set in London and the Home Counties during the Edwardian period.”
He added that Harness’s scripts “honour the source material with great skill” while providing a “modern thrill ride” for viewers.