The War Between Fails Without the Doctor

The Struggles of a Time Lord

There has been quite a stir lately regarding the future of Doctor Who. This iconic show is considered the BBC's most significant franchise. However, it has not fared well on Disney+, where global audiences have shown little interest in sonic screwdrivers and monsters that seem to be made from cardboard boxes. With the TARDIS in a state of confusion, it was recently confirmed that the BBC-Disney partnership for Doctor Who has come to an end. In the end, this collaboration proved to be as short-lived as Christopher Eccleston's time as the Doctor.

Despite this, there is still a chance for one final collaboration — a spin-off that is neither exciting nor requested by fans, featuring the Doctor's friends at UNIT battling his old enemies, the Sea Devils. The new series, The War Between the Land and the Sea, isn't the first attempt at expanding the Whoniverse. Fans of Torchwood (a more emo version of Doctor Who) will remember that this series was created by Russell T Davies during his initial tenure with Doctor Who. He is now trying again to create an MCU-like universe for Doctor Who with this dull and talky extension of the brand.

Honestly, it all feels a bit fishy. The thought of the Doctor’s latest adventures involving UNIT — the no-nonsense MI5 of the Whoniverse — makes many hearts sink. Across the Doctor's various incarnations, it has always been a reliable rule that the more UNIT appears in an episode, the more boring it becomes. This lesson is repeated once again in this average mini-series, which has decent production values but suffers from a consistent tone problem.

The first two episodes (of five) are much slower than usual Doctor Who, suggesting it is aimed at an older audience (kids might reach for their second screens quickly). Its attempts to tackle big themes, such as the destruction of the seas and the vanity and ineffectiveness of career politicians, are comically simplistic. It comes as no surprise that its release date was moved up. The BBC likely wanted to get it out of the way before launching a post-Disney Doctor Who (with Billie Piper possibly joining as the new Doctor).

A Cast That Deserves Better

There is an impressive cast — so impressive that they might wonder what they're doing on a rushed Doctor Who spin-off. The hero of the story is Russell Tovey’s Barclay Pierre-Dupont, a junior functionary at UNIT who accidentally finds himself at the front line of an existential struggle between humanity and the Sea Devils (rebranded as Homo Aqua to avoid problematic terms).

Tovey isn’t quite nerdy enough to convince as a minor bureaucrat who has stumbled into a top diplomatic role due to an administrative error. But his bizarre casting is just a small ripple compared to the big wave of "what the heck?" raised by Gugu Mbatha-Raw. How she was convinced to wear layers of prosthetics to play the Sea Devil ambassador to humanity, Salt, is anyone's guess. Whatever the reason, having her portray a 21st-century version of the Creature from the Black Lagoon is surely a waste of the talents of the star of the best-ever episode of Black Mirror ("San Junipero", obviously) and of the recent Apple TV+ thriller Surface.

She is all at sea as a monosyllabic fish-lady who arrives in London in a huge tank to lead negotiations between the Baddies Formerly Known as the Sea Devils and humanity. Sadly, her character gets to do little beyond glare portentously at bumbling Barclay, whom the fish-people have selected as the best person to lead humanity’s negotiations (for reasons yet to be explained). On the other hand, at least the BBC has kitted her out in decent make-up (helped presumably by all that Disney cash). The special effects in general are impressive, though for a show with “War” in the title, the lack of action is a letdown.

Returning Characters and Environmental Messages

Several UNIT regulars return — including Jemma Redgrave as head of operations, Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, and Ruth Madeley as science whiz Shirley Anne Bingham. But where is the Doctor in all this? He is absent — though the script doesn’t get bogged down explaining why the character is too busy to save the Earth from these pesky piscines. Davies, meanwhile, works hard at crow-barring in an environmental message — early on, Salt explains that her people are being poisoned by humanity and all the toxic waste we’ve been pumping into the oceans. It’s a reasonable point — but the well-deserved finger-wagging doesn’t do much for the sluggish pace or the lack of a Doctor.

Let’s be honest, even at its best, Doctor Who was never about the scintillating drama or cracking dialogue. We tuned in because the Doctor was such an engaging character — a sci-fi Sherlock Holmes fueled by 110 per cent proof quirkiness. Piper’s take — if she is indeed the next Doctor — on the Gallifrey gadabout will ride again when a Christmas special lands in 2026. By that time, the unsuccessful Disney deal will be a fading memory. So, too, you suspect, will be this forgettable attempt at bringing fishy fun to underserved Whovians.