Doctor Who Just Turned One 30-Year-Old Classic Character Into a Villain (In the Best Possible Way)

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The new Doctor Who spinoff, The War Between the Land and the Sea, has just finished with a surprising finale. When Russell T. Davies took over Doctor Who again, with the added support of Disney+, expectations were very high. However, the deal between the BBC and Disney+ is now finished. This spinoff marks the end of that partnership, and many fans agree it’s been the strongest Doctor Who content in years.

Initially, The War Between the Land and the Sea seems like a sci-fi love story – a bit like Romeo and Juliet – about a conflict between humans and Homo Aqua, an intelligent species that evolved on Earth long before us. Human pollution is harming Homo Aqua’s home, leading them to seek peace talks. However, the show isn’t truly focused on the negotiators (played by Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw); it’s actually about a well-established, 30-year-old character undergoing a transformation into a villain.

The War Between the Land and the Sea is All About Kate Lethbridge-Stewart

Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, played by Nicholas Courtney, was a long-time friend and helper of the Doctor, appearing in the show from the late 1960s until it ended in 1989. A later video release revealed he had a daughter, Kate, who joined the main series in 2012, portrayed by Jemma Redgrave. Kate took over her father’s role, leading UNIT – a group dedicated to defending Earth from alien dangers. While she doesn’t always take center stage in The War Between the Land and the Sea, the story ultimately focuses on her journey.

In The War Between the Land and the Sea, UNIT is presented as a powerful and independent organization that isn’t bound by typical laws or government control. While civilians monitor their operations, UNIT no longer answers to any world leader and believes it has the authority to override democratic governments during emergencies. This is a significant change from UNIT’s origins as the “United Nations Intelligence Taskforce,” which reported to the UN. This new version, the “Unified Intelligence Taskforce,” operates completely outside of international politics.

This creates conflict, as UNIT often clashes with politicians and powerful corporations. This tension peaks in the episode The War Between the Land and the Sea, where an attempt to kill Kate unexpectedly leads to the death of her partner, Christofer Ibrahim. The situation worsens in the finale, as those same political and corporate forces secretly work against UNIT, seeking a devastating solution to the Homo Aqua crisis – a virus designed to wipe out ninety percent of them.

Kate Loses Hope in the Human Race

Neither humans nor Homo Aqua entered the negotiations with honest intentions. Homo Aqua saw the talks as a distraction, a way to buy time while they melted the polar ice caps. Their plan was to flood the Earth, release trapped carbon dioxide, and make the planet uninhabitable for humans. Humanity’s approach was even more ruthless: they developed a virus called “Severance.” They offered the few survivors a chance to live in a protected underwater trench, all while corporations schemed to steal technology from the Sea Devils. This act completely shattered Kate’s faith in humanity.

The tragedy of the Doctor Who spin-off is heightened by the fact that Salt, the ambassador from the water-dwelling Homo Aqua, had just proposed a solution: Accord, an old treaty that would have forced the two species to unite. Barclay and Salt represent what that union could have been, as Salt genetically transforms Barclay into an amphibian, allowing him to live with her underwater and be happy. Kate observes them swimming away, seeing the joyful future humanity has chosen to forgo.

The episode concludes with a surprising and unsettling scene that leaves Kate acting drastically out of character. After watching Salt and Barclay depart, she witnesses a jogger carelessly discard a plastic bottle on the beach. The stark contrast between the departing aliens and this act of thoughtlessness is shocking, and Kate unexpectedly pulls her gun, demanding the jogger clean up his mess. While her frustration is understandable, it’s a uniquely strange moment in Doctor Who history, with Kate repeatedly shouting “pick it up” as the scene cuts to black.

Kate Lethbridge-Stewart Shows the Doctor’s Hypocrisy

Earlier, the UNIT team sadly noted that all of this occurred while the Doctor was gone – precisely when they needed his assistance. They recalled him saying he only saves humanity, not guides its development, and saw this as a reason for his absence during this difficult time. However, Kate’s actions demonstrate he’s mistaken. She’s actively attempting to fill his role, acting independently of her own people, ignoring political concerns, and forcefully influencing events – essentially trying to be the Doctor himself.

What the Doctor does is beyond human capability. He’s different from us, and his interventions stem from a place of empathy. He’s witnessed humanity’s flaws – even in Kate’s father, who often favored military force against other species like the Homo Aqua. However, the Doctor balances the bad with the good, giving him a broader understanding that prevents him from losing hope. Kate, without this balanced perspective, has reached her breaking point.

Kate Lethbridge-Stewart consistently avoids facing consequences for her actions. In the story The War Between the Land and the Sea, she even blackmails her therapist after being told she’s not fit to work. She displays a similar pattern when speaking with the British Prime Minister, offering assistance while simultaneously threatening him with future repercussions should he fail. This behavior is excessively dramatic and mirrors the Doctor’s own overbearing arrogance during the “Time Lord Victorious” storyline.

While not flawless and featuring a rather strange post-credits moment, ‘The War Between the Land and the Sea’ is easily one of the strongest Doctor Who stories we’ve seen in a long time. It cleverly examines what happens when someone tries too hard to be like the Doctor. This episode also sets the stage for a grand finale in the 2026 Christmas Special, where Russell T. Davies will conclude the storyline he’s developed over the past few years – now without the backing of Disney’s funding.

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2025-12-22 02:11