How would television news deal with the breaking story of huge asteroid fragments crashing into different parts of the world? This well-executed salute to Orson Welles's landmark War of the Worlds radio broadcast of the 1930s is a fine example of TV imitating itself for potent dramatic effect. Though Brits will miss the extra frisson provided by using real-life US newsreader Sander Vanocur to unfold the events, this insightful survey holds the attention and transforms into a fascinating offbeat genre item with an amazing climax. The outcome was considered so real in America that thousands of panicked viewers called in for confirmation it was actually fake.

A television program is interupted by a news network announcing that three meteors have hit the United States, France and China. At first it seems natural but after interviews by scientists and eyewitness seems to suggest that it is not. Three more meteors are coming and the various Earth governments combine forces to stop them.