Jeff Wayne's The War of the Worlds musical tour full casting announced

Casting has been announced for Jeff Wayne's musical version of H G Wells' The War of the Worlds, which will embark on a UK tour next year.

Wayne will conduct the piece, which features the Black Smoke Band as well as the 36-piece ULLAdubULLA strings ensemble. The experience will also feature a giant 30-foot tall martian robot, armed with dual fire cannons, alongside a giant 100-foot wide CGI wall. Liam Neeson will also play The Journalist as a 3D holograph.

Touted as "The Life Begins Again Tour", the piece will star Claire Richards making her debut as Beth, The Parson's Wife, alongside Kevin Clifton as The Artilleryman.

Joining them will be Nathan James as The Voice of Humanity, Blue's Duncan James as Parson Nathaniel, Justin Hayward as The Sung Thoughts of The Journalist and Anna-Marie Wayne as Carrie, The Journalist's Fiancée. Callum O'Neil will also appear as Wells himself.

The show toured the UK in 2014 before playing the Dominion Theatre in February 2016. It toured again in 2018.

The tour will open in Nottingham on 23 March 2022, before visiting Birmingham, Cardiff, Brighton, Bournemouth, Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds, Hull, Liverpool, Newcastle and London.

An immersive production will also open later this summer in London.

Buy tickets for the tour here