'What We Saw from the Ruined House'

Francis Spufford walks in the footsteps of Wells' all conquering tripods from Woking to Primrose Hill in the company of writers, scientists and historians, exploring the startling array of ideas that fuelled his classic and gives it its lasting impact.

'They were, I now saw, the most unearthly creatures it is possible to conceive'. Red weed floats down the Thames by Kew Bridge, the Martians are busy aero-forming Earth to make it more like their dying Martian home. The South East lies in ruins and London is abandoned.

Meanwhile in a house in Mortlake Francis Spufford is joined by Professor Sally Shuttleworth (St Annes, Oxford) and space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock to consider Martian evolution and appearance in a terrifying close encounter.

Producer: Laura Thomas

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in March 2017.