Recently, Doctor Who fans were finally given a small update for the upcoming spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea. Kate Phillipschief content officer at the BBC, spoke at the Edinburgh TV Festival and confirmed the show was scheduled to release next year, although nothing more specific was mentioned. After months of uncertainty about the main show’s future, and those fears now also calmed, things continue to look up for Whovians, with Russell Toveythe star of the upcoming spin-off, teasing much more about the show than we’d previously received.
Tovey promised fans a pulse-racing miniseries at the aforementioned Edinburgh TV Festival, saying, “You can expect heart palpitations. You can expect love. Again, I keep going back to that, it’s driven by love.” He continued, “This guy [Tovey’s character, Barclay] loves his life, loves his family, and will do anything to protect them. You’re going to be moved and entertained with this.” But Tovey didn’t want to stop there, even treating fans to an insight into the differences between the main show and the upcoming spin-off. Tovey said:
“It’s set in this world and this force comes upon us. I feel like that’s different, in some ways, to the way that Doctor Who has been before, because it’s always [us] visiting them, whereas this is like Independence Day. That’s what sort of drew me to it, is that it’s our world, and this impending danger is thrust upon us.”
What Is ‘The War Between the Land and the Sea’ About?
Also starring the likes of A Redgrave Jemma, Gugu Matta-Raw, Ruth Madeley, McFarlane Coin, and Alexander Devrientthe Tovey-led The War Between the Land and the Sea will continue showrunner Russell T. Davies‘ recent streak of harking back to the show’s past. Focusing on the main show’s alien-fighting, Earth-based task force, UNIT, the miniseries will see one of the show’s classic villains return in The Sea Devils, although their most recent appearance was met with outrage. “When a fearsome and ancient species emerges from the ocean, dramatically revealing themselves to humanity, an international crisis is triggered,” the synopsis begins. “With the entire population at risk, UNIT step into action as the land and sea wage war.“
Doctor Who Season 2 is available to watch in full on Disney+, with The War Between the Land and the Sea arriving sometime in 2026. Make sure to stay tuned to Collider for more updates on the sci-fi series.
