The trailer shows Russell Tovey’s character Barclay being chosen by Mbutha-Raw’s underwater creature as a potential ally to stop the conflict between their species. “The tides have drawn us together,” she tells him. “I don’t know why you chose me for any of this,” he says. Who knows. Maybe she’s a Midshipman Alonso Frame stan?
With a more serious tone in comparison with the cartoonish technicolour of recent Who adventures, the spinoff seems to be positioning itself more as a descendant of Torchwood (“Cyberwoman” camp notwithstanding) than its parent show. We see helicopters, guns, soldiers and an intimidatingly official-looking international court-style setting.
Here’s the series’ official synopsis: “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.”
Joining Tovey and Mbutha-Raw in the cast are UNIT regulars Jemma Redgrave, Ruth Madeley and Alexander Devrient, with Vincent Franklin, Patrick Baladi, Francesa Corney, Adrian Lukis, Colin McFarlane, Mei Mac and more.
Written by Russell T Davies and Pete McTighe (“Lucky Day”, “Kerblam”, “Praxeus”), and directed by Dylan Holmes Williams (“73 Yards”, “Dot and Bubble”), The War Between the Land and the Sea is coming to BBC One and iPlayer in the UK, and to Disney+ around the world.
