As the BBC’s three-part adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic The War of the Worlds hits TV screens, Sci-Fi Bulletin offers comprehensive coverage with an on-set visit and interviews with the cast. Nick Joy braved Martian Death Rays to bring this report from a beach under siege just outside of Liverpool.

Never let anyone tell you that film-making is glamorous. True, there’s sparkling premieres and showbiz excitement, but the average day on a production is just… work. And when there’s outdoor location filming, the weather plays a key role in whether you’re going to spend the day cold and wet or just cold. Today, as misfortune would have it, it’s tipping down with rain, and I’ve just been driven down from the unit base with producer Betsan Morris Evans (The City and the City) to the location base in a muddy, gravel car park. The good news, I’m reassured, is that rain doesn’t normally show up on film anyway, so it won’t be stopping play. And even if you could see it, it wouldn’t matter, because there’s going to be so much flying all over the place that a bit of rain would only add to the carnage.

Today we’ve been invited to watch a major set piece – the money shot – which features heavily in the trailer and promotional material. It follows ours leads as they run across the beach, Martian tripod firing at them. This is happening at Formby Beach, a stunning stretch of coast located between Liverpool and Southport on Merseyside, and is used to being invaded in the summertime by thousands of holidaymakers wanting to sample its golden sands and dunes. Today, however, on this rainy April day, it’s an extra-terrestrial invasion and a hundred supporting artists are stood by the water, preparing to escape from the Martians as the Royal Navy’s ironclad HMS Thunder Child returns fire.

Sailors, maids, kids in pinafores and bloody soldiers jostle alongside a horse and the lead actors from the drama. Having splashed around at the water’s edge in the mayhem, the crowd are now reacting to invisible tripods (that’s not a special power – they’re being added later as CGI) that have appeared behind the headland. Visual Effects Producer Angie Wills has a special app on her phone to help her match up the Tripod locations with the real-life scene. “As you can see (we can’t) there’s a huge armada of boats out there,” she points. “This is where visual effects come in to play. We’ll be recreating a reverse evacuation of Dunkirk. They’re off to France on boats – a reverse Brexit really. Everybody’s fleeing to the continent, so we have to give the impact of that. We’ll have a Thunder Child out there playing a part in the activity. This beach is effectively a huge plate, which we’ll be using for enhancing the evacuation and bringing in the tripods. There will be a lot of elements and CG involved.”

The supporting players are London refugees escaping from the Martian offensive and running along the beach. In the novel, the battle takes place battle takes place off the mouth of the River Blackwater, Essex. They’re dodging authentic-looking suitcases and Edwardian perambulators, the ladies are hoisting up their long skirts and clutching Mary Poppins hats to their heads. They do this over and over again, pretending there’s explosions going on. It’s Day 22 of the shoot and smoke machines are pumping haze across the beach, but frankly it’s such a grotty weather day that there’s probably a fair bit of real-life sea mist adding to the atmosphere.

Director Craig Viveiros explains what we can expect: “We’re setting up for a huge moment where our principal characters are fleeing from a tripod as it marches towards them on the beach. We’ll be tracking back with them and then there will be this huge explosion as the Thunder Child manages to strike one of the tripods and it collapses behind them, narrowly missing them.”

After multiple rehearsals in ponchos, responding to a crew member shouting ‘bang!’ before tumbling to the ground, everyone prepares for the take. The camera, hanging from a jib on a beach buggy, is tracking our heroes Rafe Spall (carrying a young girl), Eleanor Tomlinson and Rupert Graves as they sprint across the beach, when ‘boom!’ an explosion immediately behind them ignites the background and bits of rubble fly through the air. Those caught in the blast are flung to the ground.

Of course, this carefully-coordinated stunt is the result of hours of preparation – digging a hole in the sand, sinking the explosive device, and filling hoppers with spongey rubble. There’s actually two takes and almost immediately the crew are raking the rubble out of the camera line. Some of the performers have wetsuits under their period wear, and we’ve just seen Rafe and Eleanor taking a dip in the icy Irish Sea so that they look authentically wet and cold. It’s a bizarre sight, like something from a baptism, as the show’s leads submerge themselves and prepare for the camera.

I sympathise with Rafe Spall that he looks very wet. “I’ve been out there all morning, mate,” he shares. His co-star Eleanor Tomlinson looks equally soggy. “I’m used to this weather from Poldark!” she laughs, being a veteran of drizzly beaches. “The biggest challenge in this is the CGI aliens, which obviously aren’t with us on set, so you’re working creatively with the imaginations of your director, your DoP and your other actors. This is the first British adaptation so it’s really nice to have it on home soil where it was written. I think the rain adds to it!”

‘Action!’ The party traverse the sand for a second take and then – at the exact mark – the explosion happens. Even though we’ve been expecting it, every one of us jumps as the sound booms and the safe debris showers down on us. I spot three static cameras in addition to the one on the jeep, and if anything was missed first time round, here is the opportunity to catch it. While of the same ferocity, the second explosion is not such a shock, and as the smoke clears we hear ‘Cut!’ and ‘It’s a wrap!’

For Eleanor, this is just another highlight of an exciting project. “It’s an amazing part for a woman. She’s leading the series, which is important at this time as we’re seeing more female roles leading series, not just being damsels in distress any more. Even though mine is somewhat in distress, she’s not a damsel. It’s still a period drama, but it’s a different period.”

Rafe looks elated. It has been a fun day. “We’ve had a lovely time. It’s rained a lot… but it still beats working for a living.”

The supporting artists make their way across the sand to get back to base, desperate to get out of their sodden clothes. They’re back on the beach again tomorrow, and maybe it’ll be dry, but they all have a story to tell of the day that they took part in the battle of Thunder Child vs the Martians.

Follow Sci-Fi Bulletin’s coverage of War of the Worlds over the coming days, with full interviews with actors Rafe Spall and Rupert Graves, director Craig Viveiros, writer Peter Harness and Visual Effects Producer Angie Wills.