H G Wells: War With The World is a 2006

2006 in television

2006 in television may refer to:*2006 in American television*2006 in Australian television*2006 in British television*2006 in Canadian television*2006 in Japanese television...

 BBC Television

BBC Television

BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...

 docudrama

Docudrama

In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....

 telling the life story of the British author H.G. Wells, who is played in the film by Michael Sheen

Michael Sheen

Michael Christopher Sheen, OBE , is a Welsh stage and screen actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England and made his professional debut opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced at the Globe Theatre in 1991...

. The title of the film is clearly referencing Wells' most famous novel The War of the Worlds

The War of the Worlds

The War of the Worlds is an 1898 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells.The War of the Worlds may also refer to:- Radio broadcasts :* The War of the Worlds , the 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles...

.

Plot

Like the other films (George Orwell

George Orwell

Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...

, Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie

Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...

, Ian Fleming

Ian Fleming

Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...

, Elizabeth David

Elizabeth David

Elizabeth David CBE was a British cookery writer who, in the mid-20th century, strongly influenced the revitalisation of the art of home cookery with articles and books about European cuisines and traditional British dishes.Born to an upper-class family, David rebelled against social norms of the...

) in this critically acclaimed and award-winning biography strand, H.G. Wells takes a bold and innovative approach to dramatising the story of the author’s life, by using H.G. Wells’ own words.

H.G. Wells wrote his four best-known works, The Time Machine

The Time Machine

The Time Machine is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895 for the first time and later adapted into at least two feature films of the same name, as well as two television versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It indirectly inspired many more works of fiction...

, The War of the Worlds

The War of the Worlds

The War of the Worlds is an 1898 science fiction novel written by H. G. Wells.The War of the Worlds may also refer to:- Radio broadcasts :* The War of the Worlds , the 1938 radio broadcast by Orson Welles...

, The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man is a science fiction novella by H.G. Wells published in 1897. Wells' novel was originally serialised in Pearson's Weekly in 1897, and published as a novel the same year...

, and The Island of Dr Moreau in the space of just four years. His fame increased with the non-fiction writing which followed, in which Wells predicted the invention of tank

Tank

A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...

s, biological warfare

Biological warfare

Biological warfare is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war...

 and television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

. Wells’ celebrity status enabled his pursuit of free love

Free love

The term free love has been used to describe a social movement that rejects marriage, which is seen as a form of social bondage. The Free Love movement’s initial goal was to separate the state from sexual matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery...

, winning him lovers like novelist Rebecca West

Rebecca West

Cicely Isabel Fairfield , known by her pen name Rebecca West, or Dame Rebecca West, DBE was an English author, journalist, literary critic and travel writer. A prolific, protean author who wrote in many genres, West was committed to feminist and liberal principles and was one of the foremost public...

 and the enigmatic Russian Moura Budberg

Moura Budberg

Moura Zakrevskaya, variously Countess Benckendorff and Baroness Budberg was the daughter of Ignaty Platonovitch Zakrevsky , a Russian nobleman. She first married Count Johann von Benckendorff, a high-ranking Czarist diplomat, in 1911...

. It also gave him access to world leaders like Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...

 and Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...

.

A Life in Pictures tells the story of Wells’ transformation from self-confident womaniser, socialist radical and young literary prophet to burdened missionary, dedicated to creating a World State.

Cast

Michael Sheen

Michael Sheen

Michael Christopher Sheen, OBE , is a Welsh stage and screen actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England and made his professional debut opposite Vanessa Redgrave in When She Danced at the Globe Theatre in 1991...

 as H.G. Wells

Sally Hawkins

Sally Hawkins

Sally Cecilia Hawkins is an English actress. Her performance as Poppy in the 2008 film Happy-Go-Lucky won her several international awards, including the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy...

 as Rebecca West

Sarah Winman as Jane Wells

Dermot Crowley

Dermot Crowley

Dermot Crowley is a Irish stage, film and television actor.-Career:Crowley's stage work has included a leading role in an Olivier Award winning production of Conor McPherson's The Weir, which played in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the United States in the late 1990s...

 as George Bernard Shaw

Branka Katic

Branka Katic

Branka Katić is a Serbian actress known for appearing in the movies Black Cat, White Cat and Public Enemies, and in the TV series Big Love.-Career:...

 as Moura Budberg

Jacek Koman

Jacek Koman

-Early life:Koman was born in Bielsko-Biała, Poland and came to Australia in 1982 with his brother Tomek. They landed in Perth, before heading over to Melbourne, where he began acting again.-Personal life:...

 as Maxim Gorky

Kenneth Jay as Henry James

Michael Cochrane

Michael Cochrane

Michael Cochrane is an English actor who specialises in playing upper class characters, sometimes with a suaveness that hides their villainy....

 as Minister

Rebecca Ramsden as Millie

Elizabeth Elvin as Mrs. Hallam

Keir Charles as Sykes

Abigail Davies as Russian Reporter

Roger Heathcott as Josef Stalin

Thomas Fisher as Jip Wells

Lady Sara Rönneke as Georgie

Chris Wilson

Chris Wilson

Chris Wilson is an Australian blues harmonica player and vocalist. He has performed as part of the Sole Twisters, Harem Scarem and Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls, and fronted the band Crown of Thorns....

as Reporter