The BBC has announced that The War Between the Land and the Sea is due to launch in the UK on BBC iPlayer and BBC One this December, with new imagery released.

Showrunner, co-writer and executive co-producer Russell T Davies said, “This is a huge, spectacular Christmas treat, with heroes and monsters and battles and romance, in a world on the edge of disaster. And remember. Watch the seas!”

The five-part series will showcase how the world reacts when a fearsome and ancient species emerges from the ocean, dramatically revealing themselves to humanity and triggering an international crisis.

The cast includes Russell Tovey as Barclay, Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Salt, Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, Ruth Madeley as Shirley Ann Bingham, Alexander Devrient as Colonel Ibrahim, and Colin McFarlane as General Austin Pierce.

Other previously announced cast members include Adrian Lukis, Patrick Baladi, Francesca Corney, Mei Mac, Vincent Franklin, Waleed Hammad, Iestyn Arwel, Hannah Donaldson, Manpreet Bachu, and Ann Akinjirin.

The series was created by Doctor Who Russell T Davies, who has written the series with executive producer Pete McTighe. It is directed by Dylan Holmes Williams, with Lorne Balfe serving as the show’s composer. Additional executive producers are Joel Collins, Julie Gardner, and Jane Tranter.

The War Between the Land and the Sea, produced by Bad Wolf with BBC Studios for the BBC and Disney Branded Television, will air on BBC iPlayer and BBC One in the UK in December 2025, and exclusively on Disney+ outside of the UK (where available) in 2026.