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The War Between The Land and The Sea joins the ranks of "missing" Doctor Who stories for fans outside the UK, which only hypes them up more.
Posted in: BBC, Disney+, Doctor Who, TV | Tagged: doctor who, the war between the land and the sea
Doctor Who: Disney Delaying "Land/Sea" Spinoff: Method to the Madness?
The War Between The Land and The Sea joins the ranks of "missing" Doctor Who stories for fans outside the UK, which only hypes them up more.
Article Summary
- Doctor Who spinoff The War Between The Land and The Sea remains unavailable outside the UK due to Disney's hold.
- International fans grow frustrated as BBC iPlayer streams the spinoff exclusively in the UK.
- Speculation surges about Disney+'s silence and possible disappointment with the BBC deal or the spinoff's quality.
- Anticipation for the spinoff grows, echoing classic Doctor Who's legendary "missing episodes" mystique.
As of February, Disney+ still has not announced a release date or even quietly released the Doctor Who spinoff, The War Between the Land and the Sea. Since Disney paid for the exclusive worldwide streaming rights to the spinoff, nobody outside the UK has been able to watch it legally. That means only people in the UK can stream it now on the BBC iPlayer. The BBC's native streaming service is free to all TV license payers in the UK, but is region-locked to the UK. American fans are frustrated that they can't watch the spinoff legitimately and affirm their support for Doctor Who. The longer a TV series or a feature film is locked away from general release after people are already hyped to see it, the more mythical status it gathers, and it might not always be as good as they think it's cracked up to be.
The War Between The Land and The Sea completed its live broadcast run by Christmas and turned out to be the BBC's biggest drama launch of 2025. Its live and streaming figures combined totalled over 5 million viewers, which in this day and age would be considered a hit on both British television and US network television. That only got US and international Doctor Who fans more hyped to see it, yet it's the sound of crickets from Disney. They'll have heard from fans in the UK who watched it and raved about it, including Kate Lethbridge-Stewart's (Jemma Redgrave) arc, which has become every Doctor Who fan's must-see.
Doctor Who is legendary by now for missing episodes and stories that get mythical status in the minds of the fans. The majority of the lost stories were due to their videotapes being erased by the BBC in order to recycle them back in the 1970s, when nobody at the BBC thought there would be any value in many programs, particularly Doctor Who, as IP that would have long-lasting cultural and financial benefits. Classic fans live in hope that these will be found somewhere, someday. Now, The War Between The Land and The Sea is being withheld by those outside the UK.
Nobody but the BBC knows why Disney+ still won't release The War Between the Land and the Sea to viewers worldwide. Their refusal and silence suggest that Disney was not happy with the outcome of their deal with the BBC for Doctor Who. This has led to all kinds of speculation. The deal was to produce 26 episodes of television. Was Disney+ hoping for around three seasons of Doctor Who, including Christmas Specials? Russell T Davies split the number into the three 60th Anniversary Specials, two 8-episode seasons of Doctor Who, two Christmas Specials and five episodes of the spinoff The War Between The Land and The Sea. Was Disney disenchanted with the spinoff? I've watched it, and I think it's massively flawed after a good first episode. Fans who love it have forgiven its increasing number of flaws. Perhaps Disney+ have not been so forgiving. Or maybe it has nothing to do with how good or how bad Disney+ thought the series was.
When previously "lost" or "suppressed" films and TV shows see the light of day, it can be a mixed bag. Zack Snyder's Justice League turned out to be good. "Shada", the unfinished 4th Doctor (Tom Baker) story written by Douglas Adams, was fun if overlong. Who knows if Batgirl or the cancelled entire season of Netflix's adaptation of Matt Wagner's comic series Grendel are any good? Global fans continue to hanker for The War Between The Land and The Sea, and they should, so they can decide for themselves whether it's any good and if it was worth not having five episodes of Doctor Who for it.
The last two seasons of Doctor Who are streaming on Disney+, as will The War Between The Land and The Sea… eventually.
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