On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles (who would go on to write, direct and star in Citizen Kane , one of the greatest movies of all time) narrated a radio adaptation of H.G. Wells’ classic Martian-invasion novel, The War of the Worlds .
The only problem was, Welles was a little too effective, a little too scary with his narration. The CBS Radio Network, a mainstay of American entertainment back then, received panic-stricken phone calls nonstop, from viewers who actually believed Martians had invaded our planet. A Midwestern sheriff wanted to pursue legal action against CBS because half his town had started running amok in the streets.
It goes to show just how impactful a good radio dramatisation can be. I was reminded of this little slice of radio history while listening to Audible’s superlative new adaptation of George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984 . Written by Joe Wright, the adaptation features an original score co-written by Muse singer and lead guitarist Matthew Bellamy and composer Ilan Eshkeri, and performed by the London Metropolitan Orchestra.
The all-star cast is led by Andrew Garfield and Cynthia Erivo as Winston and Julia, respectively, the young lovers whose relationship is also an act of rebellion against the all-seeing Big Brother and ‘the Party’. Andrew Scott (seen most recently in Netflix’s miniseries Ripley ) is smooth and terrifying as Mr. O’Brien, Winston’s Party colleague who he suspects is secretly a part of the rebellious ‘Brotherhood’.
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