I haven't read the book, so I can't comment on the similarities/differences. But I have watched a lot of television. And this, was bad television. It was not a war of the worlds, it was a dreary love story. Wasn't it? I don't know.
Characters are all well and good, but don't let their boring back drop and done to death relationship (lack of) intrigue take-over a show that has plenty of other stuff to be getting on with!! I waited for something insightful or eye opening or thought provoking or empathy inducing (or, dare I say, exciting?) to happen, but I didn't get anything. Social commentary can be justified and can add to a storyline, but here, you may as well have given a little wink to the camera every time you were making a 'point'. Well done for resisting that, I guess. The story felt so weak and lazy, yet it was clear that the creators thought it was new and engrossing (ahem, you were wrong, by the way). I'm used to people drama having to outweigh plots and visuals when there are budget restraints, but it didn't seem like that's what happened here. This, sadly, felt deliberate. Which is both highly irritating and ignorant - how did they think people were going to react? Did they think the title alone, a female lead and a red skyline were enough to make something good? Oops...
For some reason, a whole load of not a lot of plot developing bla was spread over 3 hours and I just felt cheated at the end. What were they trying to do?
The good thing to come out of this is all the reviews talking about the book... sounds like it has a great plot that would come across amazingly if it was made into a show... I'll read it and try to make the images I create in my head do it justice