On 19 August 2024, the cast and creatives for the Doctor Who spin-off, The War Between the Land and the Sea, participated in a read-through for all five episodes of the series.
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The read-through took place on the soundstage set featuring the exterior doors to the UNIT tower helipad, visible behind the actors in showrunner Russell T Davies’ Instagram photo. Though the actors aren’t in focus, Gugu Mbatha-raw appears to be fourth from the left followed left to right by Jemma Redgrave, Alexander Devrient and Ruth Madeley. I am unable to discern the rest of the cast in the photo or whether main cast member Russell Tovey was present.
The premise of the spin-off covers how UNIT (Unified Intelligence Taskforce) copes when the Doctor isn’t around. The Sea Devils, an ancient race that have been slumbering beneath the oceans, wake up to see the polluted state of the oceans and commence war on humankind. Davies promises “thrills, deaths, chases, fish, and seven seas of danger.”
The series is produced by Edoardo Ferretti. In a sly comment in Davies’ post, former Doctor Who script editor Scott Handcock hinted at an Assistant Producer role for himself. The Production Designer is Julian Luxton.
The War Between the Land and the Sea commences filming internationally this month directed by Dylan Holmes Williams with writing by showrunner Russell T Davies and Pete McTigh, who wrote the Doctor Who Series 11 television episode Kerblam! and co-wrote the Series 12 episode Praxeus with Chris Chibnall.