THE WAR BETWEEN THE LAND AND THE SEA
DOCTOR WHO spin off

1. Homo Aqua
2. Plastic Apocalypse
3. The Deep
4. The Witch of the Waterfall
5. The End of the War

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HOMO AQUA - First transmitted 7 December 2025

Barclay Pierre-Dupont's normal job is a transport organiser for the secretive UNIT organisation. When a strange 'fish- man' is captured by fishermen in the Mediterranean, however, he is activated in his other role as a replacement for a man called Trevithick, something that happens because of an error in HR. Trevithick, it seems is a civilian worker who serves as a witness to pivotal moments in UNIT operations on behalf of the ordinary people of the planet. When the body of the so-called 'Sea Devil' is claimed by others of its kind who make themselves known to the world in general, the negotiations between humanity and 'homo aqua' become just such a pivotal moment.

THE WAR BETWEEN THE LAND AND THE SEA is a one-off mini-adventure for the Doctor's sometimes allies at UNIT (UNited Intelligence Taskforce). It features familiar faces from the parent show (DOCTOR WHO), but is anchored by a new character in the shape of Barclay Pierre-Dupont. Barclay is supposed to be an everyman character, but Russell Tovey physical appearance as a more pumped up action man than most of the soldiers he is with rather undermines his performance, which is pretty good. He is significantly aided by a sharp, funny and dramatic script from Russell T Davies that does draw from familiar tropes (the lay figure being rousted from his bed by the military to face an alien invasion), but manages to make them seem fresh and fun. The usual view of the military, here UNIT troops, is also nicely subverted by the characters, there being no trigger-happy grunts and only intelligent and determined well-trained professionals. That many of the UNIT characters are familiar from the parent show is an advantage for long-time viewers, but not a necessity for new arrivals.

The story progresses as a rapid pace, but does not overlook character progression. Barclay's accidental involvement in all of this makes him the audience's surrogate and allows him to ask the questions the narrative needs answering. After the initial pick up in the night, there is a dramatic face-off with the newly-arrived members of Homo Aqua on the beach and then a rapid switch to the London building where negotiations between ambassadors will take place.

Here, the story steps into less well-trodden territory. How many science fiction shows actually take the time to focus on the political and social ramifications of the new arrivals on both the species? This section of the story is anchored by Gugu Mbatha-Raw in some pretty impressive make-up/special effects to create Salt, the ambassador for the Sea Devils, sorry, Homo Aqua. To make any sort of impact under that much make-up is tough enough, but the script again helps out by presenting a confident and strong character whose feelings towards humanity is ambivalent at best. Here, the message of the show becomes all the more clear, though it was obvious from the sea captain casually discarding a plastic bottle into the Mediterranean Sea right at the start. This is a story about the environment, about the climate crisis, about Humanity's careless polluting of the waterways and oceans that sustain it. Fortunately, this is not a message that is hammered home with the sledgehammer lack of subtlety of some recent DOCTOR WHO episodes. It is presented as necessary background and the cause for suspicion and hostility between the two species. The well-meaning heroes will have their work cut out for them to overcome those in power who still care only about their wealth and positions.

This opening episode is a promising start. It looks fantastic and manages to give time to its characters whilst relentlessy forging forwards with the story at a pace that leaves no time for criticism to emerge. It's not perfect, but it is smart and sassy and gets things off and running well.

PLASTIC APOCALYPSE - First transmitted 7 December 2025

Barclay is outed as the new Homo Aqua approved ambassador, putting him at the eye of a media frenzy. His ex-wife and child are moved into the secure hotel with him. His first day does not go to plan when he is goaded off script by the Homo Aqua ambassador, Salt, giving an impassioned speech about how stupid is Humanity's poisoning of the planet. When he states he wishes the clean up of the waterways could be speeded up, Salt grants his wish in dramatic fashion.

OK, spoiler alert here because it is impossible to discuss this episode without talking about its defining moment, a moment that could end up defining the whole mini-series. Go and watch the episode if you don't want it spoiled.

The sight of all of Humankind's rubbish raining down on its cities, including at one inspired point the hull of the RMS Titanic, is the pivotal moment of the two episodes shown together. Barclay's family, caught out in the unexpected downpour, are nearly wiped out by a plunging anchor. It's a powerful, and symbolic, depiction of the damage wrought, though it cannot truly show the scale of what years of ocean dumping really looks like.

Prior to this moment, however, there is some character stuff to work through. The reaction to Barclay's agreement to act as ambassador at the request of Homo Aqua must first be dealt with, not just for him, but for his family and for everyone else working on the project. His interaction with the head of UNIT allows Russell Tovey and Jemma Redgrave to spark off each other with some fun banter. Barclay's greeting his kidnapped and shell-shocked family is also lighter and more fun than it could have been. The only bum note in the script comes from an intimate moment between Lethbridge-Stewart and her subordinate lover that is horribly written, leaving both actors looking ill-at-ease and the audience grateful to get back to the main plot as quickly as possible.

The ramifications of the 'plastic apocalypse' also set some behind the scenes plotting into motion. The obvious villains here are an American general, a French military attache, a billionaire industrialist interested only in the value of his assets and a UK Prime Minister who is clearly too weak to deal with the momentous events happening on his watch. The rain of pollutants is seen by them as an act of war and they already have plans underway of which Barclay and UNIT are unaware. This is unlikely to end well.

Being centred solely around the negotiations and their one 'apocalyptic' outcome, the pace of the episode drops, but the concentration on the characters is welcome and, for the most part, they are up to carrying the situation. Admittedly, Barclay's suit seems to be one size too small to show off Tovey's muscular physique and the romantic interlude is just horrible, but the one defining rainfall of rubbish stands out even more within the lower key, more human stories that are playing around it.

THE DEEP - First transmitted 14 December 2025

Barclay and a small group of personnel take an experimental bathysphere down into one of the deepest parts of the ocean to continue negotiations with Homo Aqua on their home turf, or seaweed. Their meeting will be of historic importance, assuming the bathysphere doesn't implode under the pressure.

Paired with The Witch of the Waterfall on initial transmission, this episode feels an awful lot like filler. The bulk of the episode deals with the short training period the team making the descent has in order to prepare and the actual descent to the bottom of the sea. This does give us time to get to know the individuals making the dive with Barclay, but they seem to be such an odd bunch of people to be assembled. There is a top UNIT official, of course, but there is also a nervy older diplomat, a technician who seems to know nothing about the equipment they are sitting in, one rank and file soldier and a minor functionary. This is not a team of the human world's finest, which is what you would expect to be provided even at short notice.

The training sequence is fun enough, lampooning all those 80s movie montages set to a thumping rock soundtrack, but then there is an extended period of five people in a steel bubble having a chat. This is leavened a little by surface scenes in which UNIT become aware of a shadowy programme known only as 'severance' being spoken of by powerful people behind the scenes. UNIT is in danger of being sidelined from the negotiation strategy, something she will not permit.

Events then take a turn that is indeed dramatic, but rather invalidate much of what has gone before and leaving the impression that this episode was included primarily to make a four episode story fit to five episodes.

That said, the undersea kingdom of the Sea Devils is impressively rendered for the short time it is on screen.

THE WITCH OF THE WATERFALL

Barclay and Salt are on the run from their relative species following the dramatic climax of The Deep. As they try to make their way to UNIT and the one person Barclay feels he can trust, the two ambassadors grow closer. The military forces under the control of Severance (via the compromised Prime Minister) are closing in whilst an equally compromised UNIT is reeling from its own losses.

The majority of the last episode is ignored as Barclay and Salt are back on dry land, but things are far from where they were. UNIT is increasingly being opposed by the regular military and the stand off on a bridge in central London is an exhibition in how to ratchet up tension. Jemma Redgrave's Kate Lethbridge-Stewart gets to shine in this moment, reverting back to the kickass leader she has always been shown to be. Though her loss and the spiralling of events out of her control have rocked her grip on the situation and her own feelings, she is back on familiar ground here and the show is all the better for it.

The growing relationship between Barclay and Salt doesn't feel as familiar. In the immediate aftermath of betrayal and death, and in danger of capture and execution, the blossoming of love does seem somewhat unlikely and their coupling could easily be seen as bestiality on both their parts, not least because there is no mention of any common ancestor in the evolutionary lines of Homo Sapien and Home Aqua.

As well as the inevitable betrayal by the worst elements of Humanity, and associated manoeuvreings, there is a vengeful new ambassador from Homo Aqua who threatens to rust all the world's metal in a retaliation for the outrage and the phenomena and threat of deepfakes is addressed in passing. It is the action elements that thrive in this episode, leading to the London bridge showdown and involving a fun jailbreak. With only one episode to go, it is hard to see how all this will be resolved.

THE END OF THE WAR - First transmitted 21 December 2025

Barclay is imprisoned in the secure hotel, but there are guards who are on his side. Every night, they disable the cameras so he can sneak out, drive to the sea and call for Salt in the water. Little does he know, that this is all part of the Severance plan. UNIT, meanwhile discover that Homo Aqua have also been lying and have a secret plan to melt the polar icecaps flooding much of the land and making the air unbreathable through the release of carbon dioxide. Salt tells Barclay to ask for 'accord' with the new ambassador, but events take a turn that could end the war in the worst possible way.

After such a strong start, THE WAR BETWEEN THE LAND AND THE SEA lost its way in the middle and finally peters out in a rather anticlimactic manner. The brutal act that ends the war does so almost completely off screen, leaving a shocking aftermath but lacking any great impact. It is a sad indictment of the Human Race that this act is not even remotely unlikely, and shows again that people are the biggest villains. The revelation that the Sea Devils were being equally underhanded feels more like an aside to make the human action more palatable. Salt's emotional surrender speech is a high point of the episode that places the blame squarely upon the inhumanity of the land dwellers and there is nothing to counter her argument.

On a personal level, the THE SHAPE OF WATER ending is a bit of wish-fulfilment that doesn't make a lot of sense, but the characters have done enough to earn it at this point. The final moment, that shows Humanity's inability to change, is a nice summing up.

There is a trope that Russell T Davies can't write endings and THE WAR BETWEEN THE LAND AND THE SEA doesn't do anything to dispel that. The longer form of the multi-episode story allows his creativity to breathe more than the single episodes of the parent series, but sticking the landing still presents a problem to be solved. The mini-series has done enough to justify its existence with some memorable high points, but it petered out in the end and failed to have quite the impact you feel the creators would have wished. The argument is made, however, for a UNIT spin off series, though it is likely that would feel a bit too TORCHWOOD.
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