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Television series
The television series War of the Worlds (developed as a sequel to the film, not the original Wells novel) makes a number of references to Forrester, but does not actually feature the character. The show's back-story establishes that Dr. Forrester adopted a young boy, Harrison Blackwood, who was orphaned during the conflict in the film. (Blackwood's parents were Forrester's colleagues at the Pacific Institute of Technology.) Forrester's discovery that the aliens, believed to have been killed by common bacteria, were still alive, has led to his professional downfall, but Blackwood has assumed his role as leader of new fight against the invaders. Forrester's research is occasionally mentioned and proves useful at times throughout the ensuing battles with the aliens. There is also frequent mention of an "Ezekiel Project" that Clayton was in charge of, though nothing is truly revealed about this secret project.
Harrison's statement in the first season that Sylvia Van Buren, Forrester's budding love interest in the film, was practically a mother to him implies that Forrester and Van Buren never married (she is even referred to as "Ms. Van Buren"), and speaks of their relationship as though the two were nothing more than professional work associates. This conflicts with a second season episode in which Harrison refers to her as "Mrs. Forrester" and includes a scene with a young Harrison in the same household as Sylvia. Because of the various other conflicting information in the second season with the first season, this isn't necessarily considered canonical.
Though absent from the series, Forrester is integrated into the novelization of the pilot episode. In it, after the Blackwood Project has been formed and begins their efforts, Forrester himself is given a rejuvenated lease on life, only to suffer from a fatal heart attack. However, Dr. Blackwood later states in the early episode "Thy Kingdom Come" that Sylvia's mental collapse transpired after Forrester's death, indicating that he had passed away quite some time before the series began.
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