Every now and then, a Doctor Who spinoff series comes around to expand the mythology that revolves around the adventuring Time Lord. The next one on the way is The War Between the Land and the Sea, which, like its parent show, will be streamable outside the United Kingdom with a Disney+ subscription. Although creator Russell T. Davies, who’s also the Doctor Who showrunner, has shared that this spinoff is still “far from transmission,” the rest of his update has me looking forward to the show that’s bringing back the Sea Devils even more.
The War Between the Land and the Sea began filming last August and concluded in December, but don’t go thinking that means it’ll arrive soon on the 2025 TV schedule. While being interviewed by Doctor Who Magazine (via Radio Times), Davies has this to say about where things stand with the show:
It's my job to hype, but the hype for that show is still way, way off – it's far from transmission. Here, right now, in the cool, dry downloads of a distant gaze, I can tell you... that's one of the greatest shoots of my life and one of the greatest shows of my entire career. You can doubt me and cry hype... and get left behind. Oh my God, it's good!
I can’t say I’m surprised The War Between the Land and the Sea’s not going to be released in the next few months. Like Doctor Who, this is a series that’s going to have a lot of visual effects, and you don’t want to rush making those look good. So even though all the footage was captured in the latter half of 2024, the post-production team has their work cut out for them to make The War Between the Land and the Sea as good as possible.
Nevertheless, Russell T. Davies saying that this spinoff was one of his favorite shoots and one of the best TV shows he’s ever worked on is high praise, so now I’m eager to see what makes it so special for him. As previously revealed, The War Between the Land and the Sea will follow UNIT contending with a “fearsome and ancient species,” i.e. the Sea Devils, emerging from the ocean and revealing itself to humanity, which will ignite an international incident. The Sea Devils, who are cousins of the Silurians, were introduced in the 1972 Doctor Who serial “The Sea Devils” and were last seen in 2022’s “Legend of the Sea Devils,” the penultimate appearance of Jodie Whitaker’s Thirteenth Doctor.
Various familiar UNIT characters from Doctor Who will be back for The War Between the Land and the Sea, including Jemma Redgrave’s Kai Lethbridge-Stewart, Alexander Devrient’s Colonel Christofer Ibrahim and Ruth Madeley’s Shirley Ann-Bingham. Additionally, Colin McFarlane is set to reprise his Torchwood role of General Austin Pierce. Doctor Who alums Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw will appear in the spinoff as new characters, and the rest of the cast includes Adrian Lukas, Patrick Baladi, Vincent Franklin, Francesca Corney and Mei Mac.
We’ll let you know here at CinemaBlend when The War Between the Land and the Sea gets an official release date. As things currently stand though, it’s a good bet that Doctor Who Season 15, i.e. Season 2 of the Disney+ era, arriving beforehand, although that doesn’t have a release date either.
