1955: Orson Welles on The War of the Worlds | BBC Archive

"People do suspect what they read in the newspapers, and what people tell them, but when the radio came - and I suppose now television - anything that came through that new machine was believed." The third in a series of talks by Orson Welles, illustrated by his own sketches. In this edition, Welles talks about the infamous 1938 Mercury Theatre radio broadcast of HG Wells' War of the Worlds, on the CBS Radio Network. Welles adapted the novel into a faux-news bulletin, in which the events of the story - an interplanetary invasion of Earth by Martians - were reported upon as if they were actually happening. Various US media outlets at the time claimed that the broadcast had panicked America - subsequently bringing the then 23-year-old Welles to national attention - claims that Welles is only too happy to indulge. Mischievously, Welles states here that he wanted War of the Worlds to encourage listeners to be sceptical about what they hear on the radio, to question the truthfulness and credibility of the 'magic box'. Nearly three decades on from War of the Worlds, television viewers would do well to take heed of that advice here... Clip taken from Orson Welles Sketchbook, originally broadcast on BBC Television, 22 May, 1955. You have now entered the BBC Archive, a time machine that will transport you back to the golden age of TV to educate, entertain and enlighten you with classic clips from the BBC vaults. Make sure you subscribe so that you never miss a single stop on our amazing journey through the BBC Archive - https://www.youtube.com/c/BBCArchive?... You can also dive into plenty more BBC Archive on our website - https://www.bbc.co.uk/archive