The War Between The Land And The Sea: Gugu Mbatha-Raw And Russell Tovey Star In Trailer For Doctor Who Spinoff

Concurrent with the release of Doctor Who's twist-filled season finale, we also got a first trailer for the spinoff series The War Between the Land and the Sea, seen below.

Announced back in July 2024, the five-part series stars Russell Tovey (Quantico) and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Loki) alongside fellow franchise vets Jemma Redgrave (as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart) and Alexander Devrient (as Colonel Ibrahim).

Mbatha-Raw made her franchise debut in a series of spring 2007 Doctor Who episodes, playing Martha Jones' sister Letitia aka Tish, while Tovey in April 2008 guested as Midshipman Frame. Spinoff creator Russell T Davies, though, has made clear they're playing new roles: "This is not Midshipman Frame teaming up with Tish Jones." 

Rather, Mbatha-Raw's character, a Sea Devil, is named Salt (heh), while Tovey's is Barclay.

The full cast, revealed in August, also includes Ruth Madeley, reprising her Doctor Who role as UNIT Scientific Advisor Shirley-Anne Bingham, and Colin McFarlane, reprising his Torchwood: Children of Earth role as General Austin Pierce.

The title of this offshoot was teased in the May 2024 Doctor Who episode 73 Yards, where Fifteen observed, "The rocks and the water, it never ends — the war between the land and the sea". 

The premise: "When a fearsome and ancient species emerges from the ocean, dramatically revealing themselves to humanity, an international crisis is triggered. With the entire population at risk, UNIT steps into action as the land and sea wage war."

Said species is in fact the Sea Devils, classic Doctor Who villains that made their first splash in 1972. "They wake up, and they see the state of the oceans that we have put it in," Russell previewed. "We have wrecked the place, and it is war, war on an epic scale."

Davies, the current Doctor Who showrunner, created the spinoff and penned it with Pete McTighe (A Discovery of Witches, Doctor Who). Dylan Holmes-Williams (director of Doctor Who's "73 Yards" and "Dot and Bubble") directed.

The spinoff will air exclusively on Disney+ where available, and BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK.

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