Showrunner Russell T Davies is especially proud of the closing credits scene for the fifth and final episode of his Doctor Who spin-off The War Between the land and the Sea.

Titled The End of the War, Barclay (Russell Tovey) and Salt (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) are separated after going on the run together. Now Salt is missing, Barclay is alone and UNIT is powerless to intervene. On land, the Severance stratagem furthers its plans to annihilate Aquakind as Think Tank institute Las Clementi continues its paranoid agenda. In the sea, Tide prepares his own strategy to defeat humankind. As the war reaches its climax, the oceans rise and traitors close in. The consequences will be catastrophic for both land and sea. Barclay must find Salt before time runs out.

“It is a limited series because there is a very, very definite ending,” Davies told Radio Times. “And I would say to people stay tuned for the very end. That doesn’t mean the Doctor appears; it stays within its own universe.”

“Believe you me, the credits start to roll and you get one of the best scenes ever recorded in the last seconds – which is stunning – a stunning performance from one of its cast that I’m very proud of.”

The closing scene features Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, the head of UNIT first introduced in the Doctor Who episode The Power of Three.

“Sometimes it’s hard to write for Kate in Doctor Who, because there’s constantly someone there upstaging her,” Russell T Davies admitted to Total TV Guide. “So this is an opportunity to bring her into the centre of the story. And she really is put through the mill, as much as Barclay and Salt. In some ways, this is a three-lead show, because Kate suffers, fights and finds her own victories in extraordinary ways.”

“Just keep watching till the very last second, even as the credits start to roll at the end, because she’s absolutely phenomenal.”

It would appear that Gemma Redgrave is not alone in this scene. In Doctor Who Magazine 609, Davies said in his Production Notes column that there is an actor who appears for the first time in the very last scene.

“Shooting a mini-series as one block brings its own challenges. Normally, five episodes would be broken down into two or three blocks, filmed roughly in order. But this is all one big block, so an actor could appear for the first time in the very last scene of the very last episode (and indeed, someone does) but we could need them to shoot tomorrow.”

Intriguing. Who could it be?

Gemma Redgrave didn’t give Radio Times any assurance that Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, who has now suffered a heartbreaking loss, will survive the spin-off series.

“It pushes her to her limits.”

“If she survives this series, I don’t know where she can go next, but I’ve had a most extraordinary time and journey with this character.”

Will this last scene be a breathtaking moment, a harrowing jaw-dropper or a dramatic reveal? Could it be something which was set up in the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary special The Giggle? Viewers will have to wait until the conclusion of The End of the War to find out.

Written by Russell T Davies, The End of the War, the fifth and final episode of The War Between the Land and the Sea will transmit on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK on 21 December 2025 at 8:05pm.