First look at Cora from ‘Downton Abbey’ in new ‘War of the Worlds’ series

Elizabeth McGovern is starring in a new adaptation of The War of the Worlds.

The 57-year-old American actress is best known for playing Cora in all six seasons of Downton Abbey.

She’ll next be appearing alongside Irish actor Gabriel Byrne (The Usual Suspects) in an eight-part TV drama based on H.G. Wells’s classic sci-fi novel, The War of the Worlds.

Set in modern-day Europe, the mini-series will “follow the pockets of humanity left on earth following an apocalyptic extra-terrestrial strike.”

The cast also includes Léa Drucker, Natasha Little, Daisy Edgar Jones, Stéphane Caillard, Adel Bencherif, and Guillaume Gouix.

Gabriel Bryne commented: “In literature, dystopian novels and science fiction has been a safe place for us to deal with collective terror. But what Wells also understood is that the greatest threat is not from out there, but from inside ourselves, and we see in this new telling of the story; a warning that it is only our own humanity that will save us.”

The War of the Worlds has been adapted by Merlin co-creator Howard Overman.

This is separate to the BBC’s upcoming War of the Worlds mini-series, which began filming in March 2018 and bizarrely still hasn’t got an air date.

Set in the book’s original time period and location, that adaptation features Eleanor Tomlinson (Poldark), Rafe Spall (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting) and Rupert Graves (Sherlock).

McGovern will reprise her role as Cora in the Downton Abbey movie, heading to cinemas this autumn.

Downton Abbey: The Complete Collection DVD box set is available on Amazon.