The tour then continues to Liverpool, Glasgow, Manchester, Nottingham, Newcastle, Birmingham, Leeds, Cardiff, Bournemouth, London (where it will play the O2 Arena), Brighton and Amsterdam.

Former "X Factor" winner Shayne Ward, who made his West End musical debut in Rock of Ages, will star as the Artilleryman, joining another "X Factor" star, Joseph Whelan, as the Voice of Humanity. Westlife's Brian McFadden will be The Sung Thoughts of the Journalist with Jason Donovan as Parson Nathaniel and Carrie Hope Fletcher as Beth, Parson Nathaniel's wife. Liam Neeson will appear in a 3D hologram performance as The Journalist.

The nine-piece Black Smoke Band and 36-piece ULLAdubULLA Strings will be conducted by Jeff Wayne. In a press statement, Wayne commented, "Over the years TWOTW has built a reputation by challenging our creative team to add new ingredients to every production that would move and excite our audiences further.

"For our final U.K. arena tour, I decided that it was time to give TWOTW creator – HG Wells a chance to ‘have his say’, about why he wrote what has become known as the first science fiction story ever written, and its meaning to the real world we live in.

"As a result, I’m most excited to announce that HG Wells will be seen and heard in 3 riveting scenes within our show – aged 33, 53 and 79 – spanning the end of the 19th century and two subsequent World Wars. "While HG may have also authored The Time Machine – it’s TWOTW and modern technology that is bringing him back."

For full tour dates and to book tickets, visit thewaroftheworlds.com/.