THIS is the fourth time I have seen this show over the last few years and it remains one of my favourite nights out of the year.

Most people are aware of the H G Wells story of Martians invading Earth but even if this is completely new to you it's still worth going to see.

The orchestra and band were spot on with their live recreation of the album and the lighting and special effects were as atmospheric and thrilling as ever.

I was sitting about a third of the way back from the stage and could feel the heat from the Martian death ray so I would not be surprised if a few of the people in the front row were checking to see if they still had a full set of eyebrows this morning.

The cast includes a number of well known faces including new members Bryan McFadden and X Factor winner Shayne Ward along with War of The Worlds veteran Jason Donovan.

Everyone on stage played their part in putting across the story with the character of H G Wells added this year to put across a message of hope for the future.

This is billed as the last tour of this production but with two nights pretty much sold out and an afternoon show added due to the demand for tickets I am sure we have not seen the last of this production.

After all what else is Jeff Wayne going to do with a 35 foot tall 3 tonne Martian fighting machine?