Doctor Who: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Russell Tovey Join Series Vets in War Between Land and Sea Spinoff
The modern Whoniverse is expanding.
On Friday at San Diego Comic-Con, Disney Branded Television and BBC officially announced The War Between the Land and the Sea, a five-part Doctor Who spinoff that will star Russell Tovey (Quantico) and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Loki) alongside franchise vets Jemma Redgrave (as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart) and Alexander Devrient (as Colonel Ibrahim).
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Mbatha-Raw made her franchise debut in a series of spring 2007 Doctor Who episodes, playing Martha Jones’ sister Letitia aka Tish, while Tovey in April 2008 guested as MIdshipman Frame — but spinoff creator Russell T Davies made clear during the show’s Comic-Con panel “they are not playing the same parts.”
The premise for the new offshoot: “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 steps into action as the land and sea wage war.”
Fittingly, the series will feature the return of the Sea Devils, classic Doctor Who villains that made their first splash in 1972.
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Current Doctor Who showrunner Davies created the spinoff with penned it with Pete McTighe (A Discovery of Witches, Doctor Who).
“I’m so lucky to work with such a magnificent cast. And this is a huge, muscular, thrilling drama which will shake the Whoniverse to its foundations,” Davies said in a statement. “When the Doctor’s not in town, the whole of humanity is in trouble.“
Filming on The War Between the Land and the Sea begins in August, with Dylan Holmes-Williams (director of Doctor Who‘s “73 Yards” and “Dot and Bubble”) behind the camera.
The spinoff will air exclusively on Disney+ where available, and BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the U.K.
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