The War Between the Land and the Sea

The first full-fledged TV spin-off from Doctor Who since 2016’s rather unloved Class, The War Between the Land and the Sea sees something of a return to form for Russell T. Davies and his vision of the franchise. With the initial agreement between the BBC, Bad Wolf and Disney+ budgeted for only twenty-six episodes, committing five of them to a spin-off series might seem questionable, particularly with the status of Doctor Who itself up in the air. It seems, though, that The Land and the Sea (to abbreviate the overly long title) is something of a passion project for Davies, one that he had been working on, in some form, since before he decided to return to Doctor Who as showrunner.

While Pete McTighe (Wentworth) has the writing credit for the middle three episodes, this is clearly and openly Davies's vision. Davies writes his best work when he is angry, with science fiction allowing him to criticise the wrongness of the world from a slight tangent. The Land and the Sea has more in common with his previous BBC series Years and Years than with Doctor Who itself, although it also shares a great deal of DNA with Torchwood: Children of Earth, the one truly great series of the Doctor Who’s earlier adult spin-off. Indeed, Davies has stated that he sees those two spin-off projects as part of a single, long story, one that explores how humanity deals with diplomatic contact with alien intelligence. Judging by that, he doesn’t have a very optimistic view of how we’ll handle it. Beyond that, the series is an ecological parable, with humanity held to account for its abuse of the environment, particularly the waterways, seas and oceans. When humans come face-to-face with an intelligent civilisation from beneath the sea, whose children are dying due to the ongoing pollution of their waters, they have opportunity to put things right, or to drag the world into an unwinnable war.

The series stars Russell Tovey (Being Human, Him & Her, Looking) and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Loki, Surface, Black Mirror), two exceptional actors who have both appeared in Doctor Who itself, albeit as different characters. Tovey played Alonso Frame, Midshipman of the Starship Titanic in the 2007 Christmas Special “Voyage of the Damned,” while Mbatha-Raw portrayed Letitia Jones, sister to companion Martha, in several episodes of the 2007 season. Tovey has also worked with Davies before, starring in Years and Years, and Davies even proposed his consideration as David Tennant's replacement as the Doctor. (Although Davies left the position of showrunner and his successor, Stephen Moffat, who cast Matt Smith as the Doctor, although it's understood that Tovey did audition for the role.) Mbatha-Raw is a very in demand actor, having cracked Hollywood and appeared in a number of acclaimed roles on both sides of the Atlantic, even receiving an MBE for services to drama.

In The Land and the Sea, Tovey plays Barclay Pierre-Dupont, a very ordinary man with a very fancy name, who works in a lowly capacity for UNIT, Doctor Who's international military operation working to defend the Earth and humanity. Barclay works in transport logistics (as he says, “I book your taxis,”) until a clerical error sees him subbed in for a senior consultant for a covert mission. A Sea Devil has been killed by fishermen off the coast of a small Balearic island, and Barclay finds himself part of the team sent to assess any subsequent threat.

It was a surprise to learn that the series was going to bring back the Sea Devils, a race of marine creatures who first appeared in Doctor Who in 1973. Having only appeared once more in the classic series (in 1984's Warriors of the Deep), the Sea Devils were revamped for Jodie Whittaker’s penultimate episode in 2022. That story focused on their warrior nature and updated their original design while staying true to its look. After such a long absence, it’s odd to see them back again only three-and-a-half years later, now sporting a complete redesign and a wholly new conception of the nature of their civilisation.

The undersea cousins of the terrestrial Silurians, the Sea Devils were conceived of as a reptilian species adapted to marine life, once a major civilisation on prehistoric Earth before going into hibernation for millions of years. The Land and the Sea reinvents them, presenting two different species of humanoid creatures that seem to combine reptile and fish-like traits. Both types are more human-like than the Sea Devils we saw before, with one retaining the turtle-like beak and another with a human-like face, able to speak like we do. Much like the redesign of the Silurians that happened before, the new Sea Devils are easier to empathise with, and certainly easier for an actor to perform, but lose something in being made more like us.

Of course, “Sea Devil” isn’t a very flattering term, and was based on the terrified babblings of a sailor in their first appearance. There have been a number of names for them over the years, and several are thrown about in this series, beginning with “Homo Aqua.” The script is quick to dismiss this as scientific nonsense, which is equally quickly dismissed because “Homo Aqua” sounds good. To be honest, the various more scientific-sounding terms we get are pretty questionable, as is the idea that the creatures are actually highly evolved temnospondyls (a large and long extinct group of early amphibians), but by now this dubious palaeontology is practically a running joke. The two different races form part of a coalition that becomes known as Aquakind. There's also a species of enormous fish, but they only turn up occasionally and don't really do anything but bob up and down, while the dolphins are clearly too busy to bother turning up at all.

During the rough initial meeting that leads to several deaths, Barclay quietly acquits himself by being the only human present who treats the Sea Devil corpse with any respect, earning him recognition by the Aquakind, particularly their leader. A formal first contact is arranged, at which their representative, played by Mbatha-Raw, offers the name “Salt” (the best she could offer in place of her untranslatable title). With the UK chairing the event, a fusty old ambassador is presented and rapidly dismissed by Salt, who insists on addressing Barclay, as the only human she feels is trustworthy and honest. Barclay suddenly finds himself humanity's ambassador to the Aquakind, repeatedly proving his trustworthiness by going off script and offering real insight, respect and understanding.

Tovey in particular gives an excellent performance, while Mbatha-Raw makes Salt a likeable yet intimidating character who commands more sympathy than most of the human cast. She and Barclay share an immediate rapport that grows to friendship and eventually romance. While the chemistry is there between them, having the relationship develop across a few plot-heavy episodes means that too little time is spent on it; while the romance seems inevitable, it also seems to come out of nowhere as the story demands it, rather than the characters. It's hard to not compare with the 2017 film The Shape of Water, which had a similar interspecies romance at its heart, albeit with the genders reversed; the romance there seemed more earned, in spite of a shorter runtime and with the characters both incapable of dialogue.

As well as being torn between his feelings for Salt and his loyalty to humanity, Barclay has his own family to worry about, who are suddenly put in danger's way by his newfound global importance. Ann Akinjirin (Beforeigners, Marvel's Moon Knight) plays Barbara, Barclay's ex-wife, with newcomer Cat Gannon giving a strong performance as their teenaged child Kirby. The two of them prove to be a weak link for Barclay, while Salt is even more compromised by her feelings for Barclay, leading to her ostracisation by the Aquakind.

UNIT is ostensibly in charge of the proceedings, with Kate Lethridge-Stewart as the commander-in-chief. Played by Jemma Redgrave (Bramwell, Holby City), Kate is the daughter of Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, UNIT commander and the Doctor's good friend, who appeared throughout Doctor Who from his introduction in 1968 through to the series' end in 1989. While Kate actually originated in the semi-official spin-off Downtime in 1994 (played by Beverley Cresswell), she made her proper Doctor Who debut in 2012's “The Power of Three” and has been a mainstay ever since, working alongside no fewer than seven Doctors. While Tovey and Mbatha-Raw are billed as the stars, Redgrave is very much a lead in The Land and the Sea, with much of the serial focusing on the toll the crisis takes on her personal and professional life.

Ruth Madely (another Years and Years star, also known for The Rook and The Watch) returns as her Doctor Who character Shirley Bingham, one of UNIT's various scientific advisors. The charismatic Colin McFarlane (Outlander, Officer Blue) appears as General Pierce, a high-ranking UNIT officer, reprising his role from Torchwood: Children of Earth. (McFarlane has also played some unrelated roles in Doctor Who proper.) George Robinson (Sex Education, Silo) plays another UNIT consultant, Steve Chesney, while Alexander Devrient reprises his recent Doctor Who role as Colonel Ibrahim, on Kate's personal staff (her very personal staff). Mei Mac (known for her stage work including My Neighbour Totoro and as Juliet opposite Ncuti Gatwa's Romeo) and Francesca Corney (Buccaneers, The Girlfriend) appear throughout as UNIT officers but don't get much opportunity to create characters.

Redgrave gives an impassioned performance as UNIT's commander; committed to peace but uncompromising in her duty, Kate is not to be messed with, revealing a harder edge than even her Doctor Who appearances have shown. She stands for all of UNIT, picking up on the organisation's portrayal as a noble cause that has the capacity to go too far to achieve results, unhindered by governmental oversight. On a personal side, Kate suffers losses and the pressure of her position gets the better of her (a key scene sees her threatening the medical officer who orders her relieved of duty, so that she can continue to command UNIT, in spite of this being evidently a bad idea all round). The one part of her performance that is hard to believe is her affair with Ibrahim; while he is clearly besotted with her, Redgrave never looks more than mildly interested. While it could be taken to be an affair of convenience, her later apparent devotion to him doesn't line up with this, and it's hard to accept that she'd risk her position if found to be fraternising with an inferior officer. It's difficult to accept the drama tied to the relationship as a result.

The rest of UNIT all give strong performances, although the characterisation is all over the place. Madely's Mrs Bingham gets some great lines, but she displays a woeful lack of knowledge and needs a lot of things explaining to her in simple audience terms, which is a problem for the apparent chief scientific advisor. (As an aside, the inclusion of Madley and Robinson, both wheelchair users, in the main cast without comment is good to see.)

While UNIT is a bit ethically dubious, they're angels compared to the rest of the higher-ups we meet. Vincent Franklin (star of Davies's linked dramas Cucumber and Banana) gives a strong performance as Harry Shaw, the British Prime Minister, a man clearly out of his depth and capable of criminal acts out of sheer desperate self-preservation. Stewart Alexander (Watergate) is suitably gung-ho as General Gunsberg, a US Army envoy who advocates for war against the Aquakind, with French actress Barbra Probst (Missions) as the equally aggressive General Dussolier, both of whom ally with and manipulate the PM. While they're objectively the most dangerous, it's Sir Keith Spears, played by Patrick Balardi (The Office, Stella) who is the most hateable. A water company magnate and top donor to whatever party Shaw leads, Sir Keith would rather humanity go to war against another civilisation than stop dumping raw sewage into the sea to cut costs.

With only five episodes, The Land and the Sea has little room to fit in all of its plotlines and the various twists and turns of the story. The growing antagonism between humanity and the Aquakind and the internal divisions on both sides builds to a tense and gripping situation, but the story gets sillier and sillier as it goes on, even as it moves onto its clear and inevitable conclusion. This is Doctor Who, of course, and silliness is part of the deal, but there's an uneasy balance between the political, personal and over-the-top adventure with too little room for them all to breathe. There are some fascinating ideas that are thrown away – such as the Aquakind's ability to shift sex according to their level of aggression – and events that come out of nowhere. If anything, the series needed to be longer, given time to explore all its ideas and their impact. Its initial broadcast being over only three weeks, with episodes going out in pairs, only makes it seem more rushed.

The War Between the Land and the Sea begins as a compelling science fiction drama that loses its way somewhat around halfway through, with the cast all doing their utmost to keep it engaging. Tovey, in particular, is extremely good, and can make even the most ridiculous events into believable and heartfelt drama. One thing that carries through the whole serial is the anger at society's role in the world's collapse, from the money-grabbing people in power to those of us muddling through every day, keeping our heads down, too scared or apathetic to speak up. As ever, the greatest threats come from within: fear, hatred and greed. Malcolm Hulke, the original creator of the Sea Devils and one of Doctor Who's most ecologically minded writers, would no doubt have approved.