Last month, BBC confirmed that The War Between the Land and the Sea, a Doctor Who spinoff centered around the Sea Devils, was officially happening, and along with alums from the original series like Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw coming aboard to play new characters, fans will also seen Jenna Redgrave and Alexander Devrient respectively reprising UNIT members Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and Colonel Ibrahim. Now two more cast members have been revealed for The War Between the Land and the Sea have been revealed, and while I’m psyched one of them is another UNIT favorite we’ve seen on Doctor Who, the other being a surprising Torchwood character also grabbed my attention.
Ruth Madeley Is Reprising Shirley Anne Bingham From The Doctor Who 60th Anniversary Specials
After coming into existence in Jodie Whittaker’s final episode as the Thirteenth Doctor, and then inadvertently affecting the origin of the Daleks, David Tennant’s Fourteenth Doctor made his first full TV appearance in “The Star Beast,” the first of Doctor Who’s three 60th anniversary specials. It didn’t take long for him to meet Shirley Anne Bingham, one of UNIT’s scientific advisors. She also participated in “The Giggle,” the third and final of these specials that saw 14 going through a bi-generation, which spawned Ncuti Gatwa’s Fifteenth Doctor.
While Ruth Madeley didn’t appear in Gatwa’s first season as Doctor Who’s lead like Redgrave and Devrient did, BBC announced that she’ll be participating in The War Between the Land and the Sea. Madeley was shown in a cast photo to commemorate production having begun alongside the aforementioned four actors and the person we’ll be talking about next. I thought Shirley was a welcome addition to the Doctor Who lore last year, so it’s good to see she’ll be back to continue helping protect Earth from extraterrestrial and other strange threats. That said, I do hope there comes a day when she gets to share screen time with the Fifteenth Doctor, too.
Colin McFarlane Is Reprising Austin Pierce From Torchwood: Children Of Earth
Longtime Doctor Who fans will remember the time when John Barrowman’s Captain Jack Harkness, who was introduced in the Ninth Doctor’s sole season, led his own spinoff called Torchwood. The third series/season, titled Torchwood: Children of Earth, followed Jack and his allies clashing with aliens who come to Earth demanding 10% of Earth’s children, and they learn about a conspiracy in the British government tied to these beings. Among the characters featured in this story was Colin McFarlane’s Austin Pierce, a lieutenant general in the United States Army who took charge of the operation
A decade and a half after Torchwood: Children of Earth’s conclusion, McFarlane will reprise Pierce as a main cast member on The War Between the Land and the Sea. It’s unclear if Pierce will also now be working for UNIT or if he’ll be recruited to help them out when the Sea Devils start causing trouble. That said, considering that Pierce filled a somewhat-antagonistic role in Children of Earth, I can’t help worrying that he might end up complicating UNIT’s plan to deal with this international crisis.
The War Between the Land and the Sea doesn’t have a release date set yet, but as with Doctor Who these days, you’ll need a Disney+ subscription to watch it if you’re not living in the United Kingdom. For your current programming queries, consult our 2024 TV schedule.
