I've now seen the second episode in the series and I am a bit less bloody minded than I was after the first.

It has tried to use TWOTW as a sounding board for issues of today. Which is what H.G. Wells did with his stories and novels. So the writers took liberties for their own ends.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

But I do not find it terribly well put together. It goes back and fortch between the 'battles' themselves and a post-Martian future where the main characters are eking out their survival with food and clean water hard to find.

It makes the end of the Martians a debate between government claiming the Martians were defeated and the dawning of a more evidence based claim that 'nature' did them on. Despite the fact that the Martians introduced their own natural plants, red of course, to displace earth's life.

The going back and forth is confusing except for the redness of the afterwards and the change in Amy's hair. And it gives away the tension yet left in the hundred year old story.

Possibly the writers figured if they played with the tale it would become more PC-of-the-moment and introduce surprise if not tension. Indeed, Ogilvy cropped up in Part 2, face marred by a pretty crappy looking makeup job to indicate burn injury.

At the end of the second episode most of this is clear, so I'm wondering what the third one has in store. I can only think it will go to restoration of a better world order post-Martians. Or a Martian second landing?

Because of the messaging and extra plot introduced, the story is longer, but I found it rather tedious and I do not think it will live on. It reminds me of the recent 3-D reimagining of DUMBO which looked expensive, barely comprehensible, and klutzy.