The Great Martian War 1913 - 1917

The Great Martian War 1913–1917 is a 2013 Canadian/UK made-for-television science fiction film docudrama, produced by Michael Kot, Steve Maher, and Mike Slee, and also directed by Mike Slee, that unfolds in the style of an episode from the History TV Channel. The film is, as presented, an alternate history of World War I in which Europe and its allies, and eventually America, fight Martian invaders instead of Germany and its allies. Europe is on tenterhooks in the 2nd decade of the 20th century. Everyone is expecting war between the European powers. Then Germany issues an urgent plea for help that changes the reason for that war. Many references to real events of The Great War are woven into the film's fictional narrative. They include parallels to the conflict's mass battles and defeats, as men are thrown against the war machines on the Western front, the Christmas truce, and the Angel of Mons, and America's isolationism and late entry. There's even a surprising twist on the worldwide "Spanish" flu epidemic that killed more people than the conflict itself. The film is based on the 1897 science fiction novel The War of the Worlds, by English author H. G. Wells, and includes both new and digitally altered film footage shot during the War to End All Wars to establish the scope of the interplanetary conflict. The film's original UK broadcast on 8 December 2013 happened during the first year of the World War I centennial; the film's 2014 US cable TV broadcast during the second year followed almost nine months later.