Russell T Davies shared that the Doctor Who spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea, was planned for release sooner, but production delays repeatedly pushed back its schedule.
Starring Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, along with some familiar faces from Doctor Who, this five-episode series debuted in December 2025. It served as a replacement for the traditional Christmas special, which didn’t air the previous year.
In the YouTube documentary The Making of the War Between the Land and the Sea, Davies explained that the production process began a long time ago. He stated that he initially wrote both The Star Beast and The War Between with the intention of bringing them to life as a series, and that remained their goal.
He explained that they spent a lot of time figuring out how to create the show within their limited budget and get established at Bad Wolf Studios. They kept planning to make ‘The War Between,’ but it wasn’t until after the first and then the second season that they finally managed to do it.
Davies shared with TopMob that when the BBC initially discussed his return to Doctor Who in 2021, his first proposal involved ‘The War Between the Land and the Sea.’ He explained, ‘I actually came up with that idea on my own, before any discussions began.’
The upcoming story, ‘The War Between the Land and the Sea,’ takes place in the world of Doctor Who and centers on UNIT, a military group, as they face a threat from the ancient Sea Devils.
I’m so excited to see Tovey and Mbatha-Raw working with some familiar faces! It’s great to have Alexander Devrient back as Colonel Ibrahim, along with Jemma Redgrave as Kate Steart and Ruth Madeley as Shirley Bingham – they’re all UNIT legends, and I can’t wait to see what they bring to the story.
The show will likely be released on Disney+ for audiences outside of its original country sometime in 2026.
The War Between the Land and the Sea is available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
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Authors
Molly Moss writes about the newest happenings in TV, movies, and other entertainment for TopMob. She has a master’s degree in journalism and has also contributed to major publications like The Guardian, The Times, and The Sun Online.
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2026-02-17 14:34