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Doctor Who: The War Between The Land and The Sea is RTD Blockbuster

Doctor Who spinoff "The War Between the Land and the Sea is much more of an adult series - and much better than the original series.

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Article Summary

  • The War Between the Land and the Sea is a bold, adult Doctor Who spinoff with a serious sci-fi edge.
  • Russell Tovey stars as an everyman thrust into interspecies diplomacy with the Aquakind.
  • Russell T Davies delivers a political, ecological thriller packed with his signature smart dialogue.
  • No Doctor Who knowledge required—this series stands on its own and is proving to be a 2025 sci-fi standout.

The last piece (for now) of Doctor Who is upon us. The standalone spinoff series The War Between the Land and the Sea is a five-part blockbuster Science Fiction epic that's also the final instalment of the Disney deal, and anyone watching wants to know just one thing: Is it any good? Short answer: YES. How good is it? Judging from the first two hours, it's already better than the last two seasons of Doctor Who. It's adult in tone, serious with unforced character-driven humour, and features an instantly likable and sympathetic everyman hero in the form of Russell Tovey.

Doctor Who: The War Between The Land and The Sea is RTD's Blockbuster
Image: BBC

No More Derpy Sea Devils, It's Aquakind Now

You get the feeling this is the big-budget blockbuster movie Russell T Davies passionately wants to write. It's an ecological thriller about pollution coming home to roost. When a Spanish fishing trawler accidentally snags a sentient being in their haul, they panic and kill it. Barclay Pierre-Dupont (Tovey), a lowly HR guy at UNIT, is thrust into the role of ambassador representing all of Humanity to negotiate peace with the Aquakind. As a civil servant in a classified intergovernment agency, he has to keep his job secret from his contemptuous ex-wife, who thinks he's a loser. The Aquakind representative Salt (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) picks Barclay because he's an ordinary man, not a military leader or career politician, a "typical" human who would truly represent Humanity. Barclay is, you could say, a fish out of water. The Aquakind, comprising more than one species to offset the way aliens in Science Fiction are often portrayed as a monoculture, are a diverse race, just like humans. They pick Barclay for his kindness. But political forces are plotting against him and Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (Gemma Redgrave), which threatens to get everyone on Earth killed.

Russell T Davies Marries the Personal with The Epic

This is why the BBC put their faith in Davies. Of course, The War Between the Land and the Sea is political. Davies never shied away from that and is doubling down because he believes in the power of television, of pop culture. His many recurring themes are here: Tovey plays an ordinary man thrust into significant historical events and proves his worth; cynical, self-serving politicians and military warhawks with their own agenda; a sly dig at heteronormatic gender (Aquakind are not just male or female but both); an ecological message (as Doctor Who has always pushed); an attack on racism and xenophobia (as Doctor Who has always done) and fun dialogue and banter that's amongst the best Davies has written.

This is reminiscent of his underrated series Years and Years. This series doesn't lapse into whimsical or campy humour as a fallback, unlike Doctor Who. It doesn't try too hard like Torchwood sometimes did, though it has the seriousness of Torchwood: Children of Earth. It's a serious and (so far) well-thought-out science fiction saga that utilises the Disney budget to its last cent: vast, epic locations, sweeping camerawork, and a seriousness of intent. It hints at a possible future direction for Doctor Who that fans would probably like.

You don't need to have watched any Doctor Who at all, let alone previous Sea Devils stories, to get into The War Between the Land and the Sea, thank God. Judging from the first two episodes, it's already one of the best Science Fiction series of the year.

The War Between the Land and the Sea is only available on BBC One and iPlayer in the UK, exclusively for BBC licence fee holders. Disney has not yet announced a streaming date for the rest of the world.

The War Between The Land and The Sea
Doctor Who: The War Between The Land and The Sea is RTD's Blockbuster
Review by Adi Tantimedh
9/10
A standalone miniseries spun off from Doctor Who that is more adult and serious than the main show, but better than the previous two series of Doctor Who co-produced by Disney. Russell T Davies' passion is evident in the writing, which has the urgency of his most political works, and features an effortlessly likable everyman hero with unforced character-based humour that helps elevate the story. This is as close to a BBC Science Fiction blockbuster as we're going to get.

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Adi TantimedhAbout Adi Tantimedh

Adi Tantimedh is a filmmaker, screenwriter and novelist. He wrote radio plays for the BBC Radio, “JLA: Age of Wonder” for DC Comics, “Blackshirt” for Moonstone Books, and “La Muse” for Big Head Press. Most recently, he wrote “Her Nightly Embrace”, “Her Beautiful Monster” and “Her Fugitive Heart”, a trilogy of novels featuring a British-Indian private eye published by Atria Books, a division Simon & Schuster.
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