The world of Doctor Who is ever evolving, or regenerating, one might say. As fans eagerly await the 2024 Christmas Special “Joy to the World”, fans are also getting a sea-worthy updating from showrunner Russell T. Davies on the upcoming spin-off miniseries The War Between the Land and the Sea. Fans will see the return of the Sea Devils, originally a Classic Who adversary last seen in The Legend of the Sea Devils against Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor. Recently it was announced that, in addition to Jemma Redgrave, Russell Tovey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Alexander Devrient, and Ruth Madeley, the cast would continue to fill out including Gentleman Jack alum Vincent Franklin.
The logline for the upcoming spin-off reads:
“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 step into action as the land and sea wage war.”
Davies took the time in the upcoming edition of Doctor Who Magazine to explain what’s expected for the spin-off’s production. “We’re in the third week of filming,” he says. “Very exciting!” While a simple ‘we’re in the third week of filming update’ may not be the most eye-catching, Davies goes onto explain that the filming process is being done in one big block. “The shoot will go on until just before Christmas, and it’s a mammoth task, all wrangled by one director, Dylan Holmes Williams.” He says that “[s]hooting a miniseries as one block brings its own challenges.”
Filming For ‘The War Between the Land and the Sea’ Is “Logistics Galore”
“Normally, five episodes would be broken down into two or three blocks, filmed roughly in order… But this is all one big block, so an actor could appear for the first time in the very last scene of the very last episode (and indeed, someone does), but we could need them to shoot tomorrow.” Davies doesn’t hint at who that could be, but the out-of-order filming across all five episodes could also greatly cut down on spoilers and set leaks because people won’t know what’s going where and when. This is especially important with the return of Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. While the actors are returning to the world of Doctor Who, they are not reprising their Whoniverse characters.
It’s anyone’s guess what scenes will be needed when if any fans are trying to catch a glimpse of filming in Cardiff, Wales. “[S]omeone could be needed in [episode] 1 [scene] 1, but maybe we won’t shoot that until December. Logistics galore.” While that timeline does seem a bit daunting, Davies expects filming as a whole for the miniseries to wrap by Christmas. This means that everyone can reward themselves for a job well done in the next chapter of the Whoniverse by sitting down to watch the return of Ncuti Gatwa‘s Fifteenth Doctor in the 2024 Christmas Special. He’ll be joined by Bridgerton‘s Nicola Coughlan as fans get to see what this regeneration of the Doctor is like when he travels alone (something his wife has told him never to do.)
With filming wrapping up by the end of the year, and knowing we’ll expect Season 2 of Doctor Who to land on Disney+ sometime next year, it’s also likely we’ll get the spin-off either next year or in 2026 (hopefully next year!) You can catch up on Gatwa’s first season as The Doctor now on Disney+. Stay with Collider for the latest updates.
