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Doctor Who: "Racist" Sea Devils Out, Homo Aqua In: Russell T. Davies

While discussing Doctor Who spinoff The War Between the Land and the Sea, Russell T Davies made it clear that "sea devils" is a racist name.

Published Thu, 06 Nov 2025 08:08:03 -0600

by Adi Tantimedh

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Our next dose of Doctor Who is the spinoff miniseries The War Between the Land and the Sea, which premieres on the BBC in the UK in December and on Disney+ outside the UK next year. The Sea Devils decide to invade the surface world. The Doctor isn't around, and the Earth is in big trouble. However, we shouldn't call them "sea devils" anymore, because, well, "It's racist to say Sea Devil," co-showrunner Russell T Davies told Radio Times, half-jokingly.

This isn't the first time calling them "sea devils" was considered racist, by the way. In the 2022 special "Legend of the Sea Devils", the Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Whittaker) was called out for calling them by the name, which caused her a bit of embarrassment. The Sea Devils were originally introduced in the 1970s during the Third Doctor (Jon Pertwee) years. In the spinoff, they get pissed off that humans have been polluting the seas and decide to invade and wage war. They're now to be called "Homo Aqua". And don't call them monsters – arguably, it's the humans who are the villains of the story.

"I think every writer in the world is thinking, how do you write about the climate crisis?" said Davies. "We're already in a climate war. This just dramatises it. When they first approached me about coming back to Doctor Who in 2021, this was the first bit of my pitch. I had this idea separately first, but weirdly, it needs the Doctor Who setting. If I just go and pitch this cold, saying, 'There is a race of creatures that live in the sea…' They'd say, 'Really? You sure?' The pre-existence of the Sea Devils takes all the problems out of it."

Doctor Who: It's Racist to Called them "Sea Devils" Now! — Image: BBC

The Doctor doesn't appear in The War Between the Land and the Sea. Instead, it's one of those "How does the world cope when an alien menace strikes when the Doctor isn't around?" The answer is usually "Not that well, because people are awful, and the Earth is saved by the skin of their teeth." This was evident in Torchwood: Children of Earth, and now it's going to be up to U.N.I.T. and the ordinary bloke played by Russell Tovey (who was once touted by Davies as a possible candidate to play The Doctor).

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