The Doctor Who universe just got bigger. Again.
Coming off the heels of the Doctor Who Season 2 finale, the first official look at The War Between The Land And The Sea has landed—and it’s aiming squarely at high-stakes sci-fi with franchise heft. The five-part series is the latest Whoniverse expansion from Russell T Davies, produced by Bad Wolf and BBC Studios for BBC and Disney+.
Headlining the spin-off: Russell Tovey as Barclay and Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Salt, leading a cast that includes Jemma Redgrave, Alexander Devrient, Ruth Madeley, and other returning UNIT operatives. The action kicks off when an ancient species rises from the ocean floor, setting off a global crisis that forces UNIT into the spotlight.
The War Between The Land And The Sea marks a more militarized, geopolitical turn for the Whoniverse. Dylan Holmes Williams directs, with Davies co-writing alongside Pete McTighe. Joel Collins, Jane Tranter, Julie Gardner, and Phil Collinson exec produce for Bad Wolf.
The series will launch on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK, and stream exclusively on Disney+ internationally. No premiere date yet, but the scale and cast suggest this isn’t a throwaway side story—it’s a major piece of the Davies-era rebuild. He called the series “powerful, vital, epic,” which sounds like exactly the kind of expansion Doctor Who has been aiming for.
