Dec 23, 2025
The War Between the Land and the Sea is a British science fiction television miniseries. The series was created by Russell T Davies for BBC One and Disney+ as part of the Doctor Who franchise, known as the Whoniverse.
Starring Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, the series features UNIT in their attempt to prevent a global war caused by the return of the Sea Devils, now known as "Homo Aqua". Jemma Redgrave, Colin McFarlane, Alexander Devrient and Ruth Madeley reprise their respective roles from Doctor Who and its franchised series. The series was first reported on in July 2024, and filmed from August to December 2024 across Wales, Cardiff and Spain. Of the five episodes, the premiere and finale were written by Davies, with the other three by Pete McTighe.
The War Between the Land and the Sea premiered on BBC One on 7 December 2025 with its first two episodes, and is scheduled to be released on Disney+ in 2026. The series has received generally positive reviews from critics for its performances (particularly Redgrave's) and its similarities to Torchwood.
Premise
UNIT must take action to prevent a global war once an ancient species, the Homo aqua, comes out from the sea, revealing itself to humanity.[1]
Cast
Main
- Russell Tovey as Barclay Pierre-Dupont, a low-level UNIT transportation arranger who is unexpectedly appointed as humanity's ambassador.
- Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Salt, the Ambassador of the Homo Aqua.
Recurring
- Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, the commander-in-chief of UNIT. Redgrave reprises her role from Doctor Who.
- Colin McFarlane as General Austin Pierce, a high-ranking American UNIT officer. McFarlane reprises his role from Torchwood: Children of Earth.
- Alexander Devrient as Col. Christofer Ibrahim, a senior UNIT officer who is part of Kate's personal staff. Devrient reprises his role from Doctor Who.
- Ruth Madeley as Shirley Anne Bingham, UNIT's fifty-sixth scientific advisor and part of Kate's personal staff. Madeley reprises her role from Doctor Who.
- Adrian Lukis as Jonathan Hynes, a politician initially appointed as humanity's ambassador.
- Vincent Franklin as Harry Shaw, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
- Steward Alexander as General Oscar Gunsberg, a high-ranking American general acting as the US envoy and a key ally of Shaw.
- Barbara Probst as General Dominique Dussolier, a high-ranking French general acting as the French envoy and a key ally of Shaw.
- Patrick Baladi as Sir Keith Spears, a key ally and donor of Shaw.
- Francesca Corney as Sgt. Hana Chakri, a UNIT soldier assigned to protect Barclay.
- Ann Akinjirin as Barbara Pierre-Dupont, Barclay's estranged spouse.
- Cat Gannon as Kirby Pierre-Dupont, Barclay and Barbara's teenage daughter.
- Lachele Carl as Trinity Wells, an American news reporter. Wells reprises her role from Doctor Who.
- Samuel Oatley as Tide, a Homo Aqua who succeeds Salt as ambassador.
Guest
- Mei Mac as Min Tso, a member of UNIT.
- Waleed Hammad as Col. Tariq Hashim, a UNIT field officer.
- Hannah Donaldson as Captain Louise Mackie, a UNIT company officer.
- William Gaminara as Ted Campbell, an ambassador selected to represent his nation.
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date | UK viewers (millions) [2] |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Homo Aqua" | Dylan Holmes Williams | Russell T Davies | 7 December 2025 | 4.31 | |
|
Transport clerk Barclay Pierre-Dupont
is contacted by UNIT after the
discovery and killing of a Homo
Aqua by fishermen. The creature that had been discovered
at sea is recaptured by its own kind, killing two UNIT soldiers in
the process. UNIT immediately initiate first
contact between the two species. Both agree to a treaty
of peace, and the Homo Aqua
simultaneously reveal their presence to humanity worldwide,
desiring to speak to all humans. A meeting is set up
in London and several
members of the Homo Aqua are seen for the first time. They
introduce their humanoid ambassador, Salt,
who requests that Barclay serves as the human ambassador. Barclay
agrees.
|
||||||
| 2 | "Plastic Apocalypse" | Dylan Holmes Williams | Pete McTighe | 7 December 2025 | 3.56 | |
|
Kate
Lethbridge-Stewart, the commander-in-chief of UNIT, agrees to
work with Barclay to carry out diplomatic negotiations with Homo
Aqua, who wish for worldwide pollution to
cease. Barclay's estranged family is brought into UNIT custody for
safety while UNIT scientists examine eggs breed by the Homo Aqua
that had been affected by pollution. At the next meeting, Salt
requests water from the River
Thames for Barclay to drink. Due to the water's
contamination, Barclay refuses and, against UNIT instruction,
chooses to acknowledges humanity's mistakes instead. Humanity
presents a plan to reduce pollution within forty years, which Salt
disagrees with. In response, a storm releases all the plastic from
the world's waters back onto land. When world leaders challenge
Salt, Barclay agrees to meet with the Homo Aqua under
the Atlantic
Ocean in the Romanche
Gap.
|
||||||
| 3 | "The Deep" | Dylan Holmes Williams | Pete McTighe | 14 December 2025 | TBD | |
|
A UNIT team, consisting of Barclay,
General Austin Pierce, Min Tso, Captain Louise Mackey, and
diplomatic representatives Ravi Singh and Ted Campbell, are
assembled for the underwater meeting; Campbell brings a globe as a
gift for Salt. During their submarine descent, Kate meets
at Downing
Street with Prime Minister Harry Shaw and General Oscar
Gunsberg with tensions rising over who owns the world’s water. A
new war plan named "Severance" is prepared without the knowledge of
UNIT. Under the water, the submarine team exit into an environment
created for them by the Sea Devils. UNIT colonel Cristofer Ibrahim
is assassinated while
with Kate on the surface, by an unknown assailant. Once the
submarine team are stood in front of the Homo Aqua assembly,
Campbell presents the globe as a gift, only to reveal that he is
a mole and
the globe is a concealed bomb which he detonates.
|
||||||
| 4 | "The Witch of the Waterfall" | Dylan Holmes Williams | Pete McTighe | 14 December 2025 | TBD | |
|
The entire submarine crew, with the
exception of Barclay, are killed by the detonation. As Salt safely
returns Barclay to land, a deepfake video of
her is shown to the public, threatening any human who enters the
water. Salt is captured by UNIT, until Barclay rescues her, both
immediately becoming fugitives. Shaw is pressured into moving
forward with Severance, spearheaded by Gunsberg. Meanwhile, Kate
meets Salt's successor, Tide, who informs Downing Street that Salt
is considered a traitor for saving a human and is subject to
execution. Salt and Barclay go on the run from both UNIT and
Severance while Kate struggles to cope with the death of Ibrahim.
Barclay contacts his wife Barbara and requests they rendezvous with
a vehicle on Lambeth Bridge,
with a plan to meet an ally in North Wales and attempt contact with
Kate. They are ambushed by UNIT and Severance operatives. When it
is revealed that the video of Salt is a deepfake, Kate orders UNIT
to fire at Severance just as Salt releases a vocal high-pitched
shriek, giving her time to escape into the Thames. In retaliation,
Tide threatens to use rust to end
humanity.
|
||||||
| 5 | "The End of the War" | Dylan Holmes Williams | Russell T Davies | 21 December 2025 | TBD | |
|
Disagreements continue to occur over
the melting
ice. Kate hallucinates Colonel
Ibrahim. She requests her therapist for an increase of her
prescription for paroxetine, but is
threatened with being signed off. Kate bribes her in response.
Barclay is medically assessed and begins secret nightly visits
to Herne Bay, calling
for Salt in the sea. Kate presses Prime Minister Shaw for
information about the word 'severance', who denies having any
knowledge of it. After blocking a signal disruptor used to prevent
Salt contacting Barclay, they finally meet. Salt tells Barclay to
use the word 'accord', which has ancient meaning. Barclay informs
Kate and they plan to disguise the message throughout the oceans.
Dead Sea Devils begin to show up at shores and at the surface of
lakes, rivers and oceans throughout the world. Kate deduces that
this is Severance. At Downing Street it is revealed that the virus
is engineered to only affect nine out of every ten Sea Devils. The
Sea Devils surrender and inform humanity that they have won the
war, but to be wary of water in the future. Kate drives Barclay to
the sea, who finds Salt there. Salt gives Barclay gills, and they swim away
together. A man drops a plastic bottle, who after refusing to pick
it up, Kate threatens with a gun.
|
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Production
Development
In July 2024, Deadline Hollywood reported a new Doctor Who spin-off titled The War Between the Land and the Sea was set to begin filming in September.[3] Russell T Davies confirmed later that month at San Diego Comic Con that production would begin in August.[4] Produced by Bad Wolf and BBC Studios, Davies served as executive producer along with Pete McTighe, Joel Collins, Julie Gardner, and Jane Tranter.[5][6] Edoardo Ferretti took on the role of television producer with pre-production underway by July 2024.[7]
Casting
Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw lead the series with Jemma Redgrave and Alexander Devrient reprising their roles from Doctor Who as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and Colonel Ibrahim, respectively.[1][8] Tovey and Mbatha-Raw previously played Alonso Frame and Tish Jones in Doctor Who.[9] Ruth Madeley also returns from Doctor Who, playing Shirley Anne Bingham. Colin McFarlane reprises his role as General Austin Pierce, a character first introduced and last seen fifteen years prior in the third series of Torchwood, another Doctor Who spin-off.[10] Adrian Lukis, Patrick Baladi, Vincent Franklin, Francesca Corney and Mei Mac were announced as additional cast members in October 2024.[11]
Writing
The five-part series was written by Davies and Pete McTighe.[12] According to McTighe, Davies had already devised the series' concept and scripted its first episode prior to writing the 60th anniversary specials of Doctor Who,[13] which marked the beginning of his second tenure on the series as writer and showrunner. After McTighe delivered the first draft of "Lucky Day", his episode of the fifteenth series of Doctor Who (and third for the show as a whole), Davies asked him to collaborate on the remainder of the spin-off in 2023.[13] The two split writing duties across the programme, with Davies writing the finale in addition to his existing opening script, and McTighe the second, third and fourth episodes; Davies initially stated he had co-written the fourth with McTighe,[14] but was subsequently not co-credited in the episode itself.[15] Following filming wrapping on series 15 of Doctor Who, the first read-through for all five episodes occurred on 19 August 2024.[7]
Filming
Some filming took place internationally, including on Mallorca.[16] All episodes were produced in one block, compared to the two to three blocks that would usually be used for five episodes.[17] Location shooting began on 29 August 2024 in Barry and Atlantic Wharf, both in south Wales. Filming continued into September in various locations across Wales, including at the Welsh Government Building, City Arms pub, Hodge House, and Merthyr Mawr. In October, the series was spotted filming at Cardiff City Hall and National Museum Cardiff. November filming occurred