Russell Tovey discussed the Doctor Who spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea on a panel with Rylan at Edinburgh TV Festival.

Tovey explained what to expect from the spin-off and his character Barclay.

“You can expect heart palpitations. You can expect love. Again, I keep coming back to that. This guy loves his life, loves his family and will do anything to protect them. And, yeah, you are going to be moved and entertained in this.”

“It’s set in this world and this force comes upon us and I feel like that is different from in some ways than Doctor Who has been before because it’s always sort of visiting [other] worlds. And this is like Independence Day. And that’s what sort of drew me to it — is that it’s our world and this impending danger is thrust upon us.”

According to Radio Times, Tovey further explained that environmental concerns are a major plot point in The War Between the Land and the Sea.

“It’s set in our world. Climate change is a huge factor.”

Of Barclay, Tovey told Radio times what type of life his character lives before it all changes for him.

“He’s someone who works in the offices and books people’s taxis but, by some series of events, he ends up becoming a very important figure in the world, and having to understand that role and what that entails.”

“And, in true Doctor Who [fashion, Barclay is] saving the planet. It was just a total joy to play this everyman who’s the sort of a guy that’s drifted into his late 30s, early 40s and, unbeknownst to him, just thought, ‘This is what life was going to be.'”

“I love that, hopefully, it’s inspiring and people feel like it’s not over, that things can shift any moment. I’m really proud of it, and I’m terrified of it and excited by it – all of those things. But working on it was brilliant, and the scripts were fab.”

The War Between the Land and the Sea will transmit on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK, and exclusively on Disney+ outside of the UK (where available). While the trailer for the spin-off says “coming soon”, several official sources have said the five-part series will begin transmission later this year.