''The War Between the Land and the Sea'' (sometimes shortened to just ''The War Between'') is an upcoming British

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

television

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

created by

Russell T Davies Stephen Russell Davies ( ; born 27 April 1963), known professionally as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for being the original showrunner and head writer of the revival of the BBC sci-fi seri ...

for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

and

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

. Part of the

Whoniverse The Whoniverse is a British media franchise and shared universe consisting of the BBC television series ''Doctor Who'', its Doctor Who spin-offs, spin-offs, and other associated media. The shared universe nature was established by crossing ove ...

franchise, the series is set to feature

UNIT Unit may refer to: General measurement * Unit of measurement, a definite magnitude of a physical quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law **International System of Units (SI), modern form of the metric system **English units, histo ...

as they attempt to prevent a global war caused by the return of the Sea Devils. It is expected to star

Russell Tovey Russell George Tovey (born 14 November 1981) is a British actor. He is best known for playing the role of werewolf George Sands in the BBC's supernatural comedy-drama '' Being Human'', Rudge in both the stage and film versions of '' The History ...

Gugu Mbatha-Raw Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha-Raw, MBE (; born 21 April 1983) is an English actress. She began acting at the National Youth Music Theatre and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and gained acclaim for her roles as Juliet in ''Romeo and Juliet'' and O ...

Jemma Redgrave Jemima Rebecca "Jemma" Redgrave (born 14 January 1965) is an English actress, and a member of the Redgrave family. She is known for her roles as the title character in '' Bramwell'' (1995–1998) and as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart in ''Doctor Who'' ...

, and Alexander Devrient. ''The War Between the Land and the Sea'' was filmed between August and December 2024. It will consist of five episodes and is currently expected to be released in 2025.

Premise

UNIT must take action to prevent a global war once an ancient species, the Sea Devils, comes out from the sea, revealing itself to humanity.

Cast

as Barclay *

as Salt *

Kate Lethbridge-Stewart Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, also known as Kate Stewart, is a fictional character in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. She was created by writer Marc Platt (writer), Marc Platt and first portrayed by Beverley Cressman in ...

* Alexander Devrient as Colonel Ibrahim *

Ruth Madeley Ruth Madeley (born 4 August 1987) is a British actress known for her roles in '' Years and Years'', '' The Rook'' and ''Doctor Who''. She was born with spina bifida and has worked with the charity Whizz-Kidz for much of her life. She was nominate ...

as Shirley Ann Bingham *

Colin McFarlane Colin Andrew Ignatius Peter McFarlane (born 15 September 1961) is a British actor, narrator and voice actor. He is known for his roles in film and television including Gillian B. Loeb in two films of Christopher Nolan's '' The Dark Knight Tril ...

as General Austin Pierce *

Adrian Lukis Adrian Leonard Fellowes Lukis (born 28 March 1957) is an English actor who has appeared regularly in British television drama since the late 1980s. Some of his most notable appearances have been as Sergeant Doug Wright in the police drama ser ...

Patrick Baladi Patrick Bashir Baladi is an English actor. He is best known for playing Neil Godwin in the BBC sitcom ''The Office'', Michael Jackson in the Sky 1 drama '' Stella'', and Stephen Holmes in the ITV thriller '' Marcella''. Early life and educa ...

Vincent Franklin Vincent Warren Franklin (born 3 November 1966) is an English actor from Haworth, England. He is best known for his roles in comedy television programmes. He has appeared in a number of feature films including the Mike Leigh films ''Topsy-Turvy'' ...

* Francesca Corney * Mei Mac

Episodes

{{Episode table , background=# , overall= , title= , director= , writer= , writerR={{cite web, url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sci-fi/doctor-who-spin-off-filming-newsupdate/, title=Doctor Who showrunner confirms when filming will wrap on spin-off, last=Hibbs, first=James, date=12 October 2024, accessdate=12 October 2024, work=

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

, airdate= , airdateR={{cite web, url=https://cultbox.co.uk/news/pre-production/doctor-who-spin-off-the-war-between-the-land-and-the-sea-coming-in-2025, title=Doctor Who spin-off 'The War Between the Land and the Sea' coming in 2025, last=Laford, first=Andrea, date=15 August 2024, accessdate=13 October 2024, work=CultBox , viewers= , country=UK , directorR= , episodes= {{Episode list , EpisodeNumber = 1 , Title = , RTitle = , DirectedBy = Dylan Holmes Williams , WrittenBy =

, OriginalAirDate = {{Start date, 2025 , Viewers = , ShortSummary = , LineColor = #000000 {{Episode list , EpisodeNumber = 2 , Title = , RTitle = , DirectedBy = Dylan Holmes Williams , WrittenBy =

Pete McTighe Pete McTighe is a British screenwriter and executive producer. He wrote several episodes of '' Wentworth'', an Australian prison drama series that won Most Outstanding and Most Popular Drama at the Logie Awards. He is the creator and writer of t ...

, OriginalAirDate = {{Start date, 2025 , Viewers = , ShortSummary = , LineColor = #000000 {{Episode list , EpisodeNumber = 3 , Title = , RTitle = , DirectedBy = Dylan Holmes Williams , WrittenBy = Pete McTighe , OriginalAirDate = {{Start date, 2025 , Viewers = , ShortSummary = , LineColor = #000000 {{Episode list , EpisodeNumber = 4 , Title = , RTitle = , DirectedBy = Dylan Holmes Williams , WrittenBy = Russell T Davies and Pete McTighe , OriginalAirDate = {{Start date, 2025 , Viewers = , ShortSummary = , LineColor = #000000 {{Episode list , EpisodeNumber = 5 , Title = , RTitle = , DirectedBy = Dylan Holmes Williams , WrittenBy = Russell T Davies , OriginalAirDate = {{Start date, 2025 , Viewers = , ShortSummary = , LineColor = #000000

Production

Development

In July 2024, ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. It is updated several times a day, with en ...

'' reported a new ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' spin-off titled ''The War Between the Land and the Sea'' was set to begin filming in September.

confirmed later that month at San Diego Comic Con that production would begin in August. Produced by

Bad Wolf "Bad Wolf" is the twelfth episode of the revived Doctor Who series 1, first series of the British Science fiction on television, science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. The episode was first broadcast on BBC One on 11 June 2005. It is ...

and

BBC Studios BBC Studios Limited is a British content company. It is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC that was formed in April 2018 through the merger of the BBC's commercial production arm and the BBC's commercial international distribution arm, BBC Wor ...

, Davies is an

executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...

along with

Phil Collinson Philip Collinson (born 26 August 1970) is a British television producer. He was initially an actor, before switching to working behind the cameras in the industry as a script editor and writer on programmes such as ''Springhill'' and ''Emmerdale ...

, Joel Collins,

Julie Gardner Julie Ann Gardner (born 4 June 1969) is a Welsh television producer. Her most prominent work has been serving as executive producer on the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'' and its spin-off shows '' Torchwood'' and '' The Sarah Jane Adventures'' ...

, and

Jane Tranter Pauline Jane Tranter (born 17 March 1963) is an English television executive who was the executive vice-president of programming and production at BBC Worldwide's Los Angeles base from 2009 until 2015. From 2006 to 2008, she was the BBC's contr ...

. Edoardo Ferretti took on the role of

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon acce ...

Pre-production Pre-production is the process of planning some of the elements involved in a film, television show, play, video game, or other performance, as distinct from production and post-production. Pre-production ends when the planning ends and the co ...

was underway by July 2024.{{cite web, url=https://cultbox.co.uk/news/five-part-doctor-who-spin-off-now-in-pre-production, title=Five-part Doctor Who spin-off now in pre-production, last=Laford, first=Andrea, date=2 July 2024, accessdate=27 July 2024, work=CultBox

Casting

and

are expected to lead the series with

and Alexander Devrient. Redgrave and Devrient are reprising their roles from ''Doctor Who'' as

and Colonel Ibrahim, respectively. Tovey and Mbatha-Raw previously played Alonso Frame and Tish Jones in ''Doctor Who'', but are set to take on new characters in the spin-off.

also returns from ''Doctor Who'', playing Shirley Anne Bingham.

reprises his role as General Austin Pierce, a character first introduced and last seen fifteen years prior in the

third series Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

of ''

Torchwood ''Torchwood'' is a British-American science fiction television programme created by Russell T Davies. A spin-off of the 2005 revival of ''Doctor Who'', it aired from 2006 to 2011. The show shifted its broadcast channel each series to reflect i ...

'', another spin-off of ''Doctor Who''.

, Francesca Corney, and Mei Mac were announced as additional cast members in October 2024.

Writing

The five-part series was written by Davies and

. Davies is the current

showrunner A showrunner is the top-level executive producer of a television series. The position outranks other creative and management personnel, including episode directors, in contrast to feature films, in which the director has creative control over th ...

of ''Doctor Who'' while McTighe also previously wrote for the parent series. The two split writing duties across the programme, with Davies writing the premiere and finale episodes, McTighe writing the second and third episodes, and the two co-writing episode four together. A read-through for all five episodes occurred on 20 August.{{cite web, url=https://cultbox.co.uk/news/production/read-through-of-scripts-for-doctor-who-spin-off-commences, title=Read-through of scripts for Doctor Who spin-off commences, last=Laford, first=Andrea, date=20 August 2024, accessdate=19 August 2024, work=CultBox The series is set to see the return of the Sea Devils.

Filming

Location scouting Location scouting is a vital process in the pre-production stage of filmmaking and commercial photography. Once scriptwriters, producers or directors have decided what general kind of scenery they require for the various parts of their work ...

took place in July 2024. Some filming took place internationally. All episodes are being produced in one block, compared to the two to three blocks that would usually be used for five episodes.

Location shooting Location shooting is the shooting of a film or television production in a real-world setting rather than a sound stage or backlot. The location may be interior or exterior. When filmmaking professionals refer to shooting "on location", they are ...

began on 29 August 2024 in Barry and Atlantic Wharf, both in

south Wales South Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, loosely defined region of Wales bordered by England to the east and mid Wales to the north. Generally considered to include the Historic counties of Wales, historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire ( ...

. Filming continued into September in various locations across Wales, including at the Welsh Government Building, City Arms pub, Hodge House, and

Merthyr Mawr Merthyr Mawr is a village and Community (Wales), community in Bridgend (county borough), Bridgend, Wales. The village is about miles from the centre of Bridgend town. The population of the community at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 censu ...

. In October, the series was spotted filming at

Cardiff City Hall City Hall () is a municipal building in Cardiff, Wales, UK. It serves as Cardiff's centre of local government. It was built as part of the Cathays Park civic centre development and opened in October 1906. Built of Portland stone, it is an impor ...

and

National Museum Cardiff National Museum Cardiff (), formerly known as the National Museum of Wales, is a museum and art gallery in Cardiff, Wales. The museum is part of the wider network of Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales. Entry is kept free by a grant from the Wel ...

. Further recording was set to take place in Mallorca, Spain in October 2024. November filming occurred at

Town Bridge The Town Bridge is a historic truss bridge, carrying Town Bridge Road over the Farmington River in Canton, Connecticut. Built in 1895, it is one of only two surviving pin-connected Parker truss bridges in the state. It was listed on the Nation ...

Newport, Wales Newport ( ) is a city and Principal areas of Wales, county borough in Wales, situated on the River Usk close to its confluence with the Severn Estuary, northeast of Cardiff. The population grew considerably between the 2011 and the 2021 Unit ...

. Filming concluded on 10 December 2024.

Music

On 30 May 2025, it was announced that

Lorne Balfe Lorne Balfe (born 23 February 1976) is a Scottish composer of film, television and video game scores. A veteran of Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions, Balfe's scoring credits include the films '' Megamind'', ''Penguins of Madagascar'', ...

had been hired as the show's composer. In addition to the news, Balfe also announced that there would be an upcoming opportunity for some people to be audience members at a recording session for the show the following month.{{cite web, url=https://poppednews.com/2025/05/30/lorne-balfe-the-war-between-the-land-and-the-sea/, title=‘Doctor Who’ Spin-Off ‘The War Between the Land And The Sea’ Taps Legendary Composer Lorne Balfe, last=Martin-Jones, first=Josh

Release

The series is expected to air on

and stream on

BBC iPlayer BBC iPlayer (stylised as iPLAYER or BBC iPLAYER) is a video on demand service from the BBC. The service is available Over-the-top media service, over-the-top on a wide range of devices, including Mobile phone, mobile phones and Tablet computer ...

in the United Kingdom, and release on

internationally in 2025.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9r32xg2y0lo , title=''Doctor Who'' spin-off to star Tovey and Mbatha-Raw , last=Youngs , first=Ian , publisher=

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, date=26 July 2024 , accessdate=27 July 2024 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727062616/https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9r32xg2y0lo , archivedate=27 July 2024 , url-status=live {{cite web , url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2024/doctor-who-spin-off-russell-tovey-gugu-mbatha-raw , title=Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw lead cast of ''Doctor Who'' spin-off series for the BBC and Disney+ , publisher=

, date=26 July 2024 , accessdate=27 July 2024 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240726204147/https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2024/doctor-who-spin-off-russell-tovey-gugu-mbatha-raw , archivedate=26 July 2024 , url-status=live {{cite web , url=https://deadline.com/2024/07/doctor-who-analysis-disney-deal-ncuti-gatwa-russell-t-davies-bbc-1236008287/ , title=''Doctor Who''{{'s Regeneration: Has The Disney Gamble Paid Off? , last=Goldbart , first=Max , work=

, date=17 July 2024 , accessdate=27 July 2024 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240717130636/https://deadline.com/2024/07/doctor-who-analysis-disney-deal-ncuti-gatwa-russell-t-davies-bbc-1236008287/ , archivedate=17 July 2024 , url-status=live {{cite web , url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcberman1/2024/07/26/doctor-who-news-disney-and-the-bbc-announce-spinoff-the-war-between-the-land-and-the-sea/ , title=''Doctor Who'' News: ''The War Between the Land and the Sea'' Spinoff On The Way , last=Berman , first=Marc , work=

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

, date=26 July 2024 , accessdate=26 July 2024 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727062748/https://www.forbes.com/sites/marcberman1/2024/07/26/doctor-who-news-disney-and-the-bbc-announce-spinoff-the-war-between-the-land-and-the-sea/ , archivedate=27 July 2024 , url-status=live {{cite web , url=https://www.ign.com/articles/doctor-who-spin-off-the-war-between-the-land-and-the-sea-announced-at-san-diego-comic-con , title=''Doctor Who'' Spin-Off ''The War Between the Land and the Sea'' Announced at San Diego Comic-Con , last=Colbert , first=Isaiah , work=

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

, date=26 July 2024 , accessdate=26 July 2024 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727062842/https://www.ign.com/articles/doctor-who-spin-off-the-war-between-the-land-and-the-sea-announced-at-san-diego-comic-con , archivedate=27 July 2024 , url-status=live {{cite web , url=https://www.thewrap.com/doctor-who-spinoff-the-war-between-the-land-and-the-sea-disney-plus/ , title=''Doctor Who'' Spin-Off ''The War Between the Land and the Sea'' Heads to Disney+ , last=Taylor , first=Drew , work=

TheWrap ''TheWrap'' is an American online news organization that covers the business of entertainment and media. It was founded by journalist Sharon Waxman in 2009 and is based in Los Angeles. The site features original reporting, analysis, and editor ...

, date=26 July 2024 , accessdate=26 July 2024 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727062934/https://www.thewrap.com/doctor-who-spinoff-the-war-between-the-land-and-the-sea-disney-plus/ , archivedate=27 July 2024 , url-status=live {{cite web, url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/doctor-who-spinoff-disney-bbc-1235959164/ , title=''Doctor Who'' Spinoff Officially Happening at Disney, BBC , last1=Vlessing , first1=Etan , last2=Gajewski , first2=Ryan , work=

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

, date=26 July 2024 , accessdate=26 July 2024 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727062950/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/doctor-who-spinoff-disney-bbc-1235959164/ , archivedate=27 July 2024 , url-status=live {{cite web , url=https://tvline.com/news/doctor-who-spinoff-cast-gugu-mbatha-raw-russell-tovey-sea-devils-1235295969/ , title=Doctor Who: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Russell Tovey Join Series Vets in War Between Land and Sea Spinoff , last=Mitovich , first=Matt Webb , work=

TVLine ''TVLine'' is a website devoted to information, news, and spoilers of television programs. It covers various topics including the latest news on television, reviews, latest releases, and more. History In late 2010, ''Entertainment Weekly''s ...

, date=26 July 2024 , accessdate=26 July 2024 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727063022/https://tvline.com/news/doctor-who-spinoff-cast-gugu-mbatha-raw-russell-tovey-sea-devils-1235295969/ , archivedate=27 July 2024 , url-status=live {{cite web, url=https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/doctor-who-spinoff-the-war-between-the-land-and-the-sea-1236085079/ , title=''Doctor Who'' Spinoff ''The War Between the Land and Sea'' Announced, Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw to Star , last=Stephan , first=Katcy , work=

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

, date=26 July 2024 , accessdate=26 July 2024 , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240727063044/https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/doctor-who-spinoff-the-war-between-the-land-and-the-sea-1236085079/ , archivedate=27 July 2024 , url-status=live {{Doctor Who {{navboxes, list1= {{Russell T Davies {{Disney+ original series {{Silurian stories {{UNIT stories, selected=Television {{DEFAULTSORT:War Between the Land and the Sea, The 2025 British television series debuts British English-language television shows British television spinoffs British science fiction television shows Disney+ original programming Doctor Who spinoffs Television series by Bad Wolf (production company) Television series by BBC Studios Television series created by Russell T Davies Television shows filmed in Spain Television shows filmed in Wales UNIT stories Upcoming British television series