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The Late Edition

London's evening edition. Independent, updated daily.

The War of The Worlds London has closed, and what replaced it

Jeff Wayne's The War of The Worlds: The Experience closed at 56 Leadenhall Street after seven years. The concert tour that follows it, and the immersive shows still running.

An empty stage lit through haze

Jeff Wayne’s The War of The Worlds: The Experience has closed. It ran at 56 Leadenhall Street in the City for seven years and it is not coming back to that building.

The production announced it on 30 April 2026, and gave the reason: Ellipsis Entertainment, the company licensed to operate the Experience, ceased trading. Jeff Wayne’s own statement describes it as sudden and outside their control, which is a different kind of ending from a run reaching its natural close.

Why this page exists at all

Because the search results have not caught up. Ticket resellers and listings sites still carry it, and the address that looks like the show’s official website, with immersive in the domain, is a parked domain that now redirects to an unrelated technology blog.

The real site is the production’s own, and it is where the closure notice sits. If you are trying to work out whether you can still book, that is the answer: no.

What it was

A walk-through immersive show built on Jeff Wayne’s 1978 musical version of the H. G. Wells novel, mixing live actors, virtual reality, projection and a full bar programme across several floors of a City building. The production reports that 320,000 people went through it.

Seven years is a long run for an immersive show in London, where most last a season, and it was one of the few that had genuinely become a fixture rather than a pop-up.

The concert version, from October 2026

The music is not going anywhere. The War of The Worlds is touring theatres and concert halls from October 2026, presented by Kilimanjaro, as a concert rendition rather than an arena spectacle.

Jeff Wayne describes it as stripping the spectacle back down to the music, with performers from the West End and elsewhere, a band, an orchestra and animation, and himself stepping back from the podium. So the answer to what replaced it is a different format rather than nothing. Gigs in London carries the dated listings as they are confirmed.

Immersive shows that are actually open

Immersive experiences in London covers what is running now. The two closest in shape and still open are the Paradox Museum in Knightsbridge and Bubble Planet in Wembley, and the London Dungeon is the long-running version with actors and a storyline.

This is now the ninth London experience we have had to write a closure notice for, which is why the closed list is kept up to date.

London month by month

Twelve guides, one a month

What is on right now

All 2189 listings

This guide is rewritten each year before the dates come round. For what is actually happening this week rather than what happens every year, the listings below are dated, checked against the venue and carry the venue's own link.

Next up

  1. Theatre £45 to £110, under 30s and students from £10

    Main Stage: Kimberly Akimbo

    Times vary Main Stage, Hampstead

    Until 7 Nov

  2. Theatre £15 to £35

    Bush Theatre: Darkling, by Titas Halder

    19:30 Bush Theatre, Shepherd's Bush

    Until 24 Oct

  3. Theatre From £31

    Young Vic: Thelma and Louise

    19:30 Young Vic, Main House, Waterloo

    Until 24 Oct

Or pick a part of town

Questions people ask

Is The War of The Worlds immersive experience still open in London?

No. The production announced on 30 April 2026 that Jeff Wayne's The War of The Worlds: The Experience had closed at 56 Leadenhall Street after seven years, because Ellipsis Entertainment, the company licensed to operate it, ceased trading.

Why do sites still sell War of the Worlds London tickets?

Because resale and listings pages are rarely taken down when a run ends. The domain that looks like the show's official site is also a parked domain redirecting elsewhere, so the production's own site is the only reliable check.

Is there a War of The Worlds show in 2026?

Yes, but a different format. The musical version tours theatres and concert halls from October 2026, presented by Kilimanjaro, as a concert rendition with West End performers, a band, an orchestra and animation rather than the arena spectacle.

What was The War of The Worlds: The Experience?

A walk-through immersive show at 56 Leadenhall Street built on Jeff Wayne's 1978 musical version of the H. G. Wells novel, using live actors, virtual reality and projection across several floors. The production reports 320,000 people went through it in seven years.

This guide is rewritten rather than refreshed, and everything named in it is checked against the venue's own page. Times and prices change; where a listing links to a venue, that link is the one to trust. How we choose what goes in.