Meet The Cast of The War Between The Land and The Sea

This Sunday, the first two episodes of Doctor Who spin-off The War Between The Land and The Sea arrive on BBC One (and iPlayer) from 8.30pm.

This follows the prequelish screening of a condensed reworking of the classic Third Doctor story, The Sea Devils, on BBC Four at 7pm.

I'm excited for The War Between The Land and The Sea, but also slightly apprehensive (as I am with all new Who shows these days). I hope we get a decent explanation of why these "sea devils" look nothing like the classic ones of, even those seen in the 13th Doctor's Legend of The Sea Devils.

To be honest, I'm still not 100 per cent convinced they are Sea Devils!

Okay, So It Was The Sea Devils All Along!

In a revelation that should shock no one, it appears as though my guesses about the aquatic species in The War Between The Land and The Sea were wrong.

I had suggested that they could be the Fish People from The Underwater Menace, but the BBC has just revealed that the Third Doctor classic adventure The Sea Devils is getting a trimmed, 90-minute release just before the new serial releases - making a definitive link between the two stories.

Showrunner Russell T Davies is quoted as saying:

"Fifty-two years after they first rose from the depths, it’s Sea Devil night across the BBC! A great idea never dies, and viewers young and old can now heed the warning: watch the seas!"

The cut-down Sea Devils drops on BBC iPlayer at 6am and will be shown on BBC 4 at 7pm on Sunday December 7, with the first two episodes of The War Between The Land and The Sea then airing at 8.30pm on BBC 1.

You can read more about the return of the Sea Devils here.

War Is Coming... Sooner Than We Expected!

Not long to wait! The War Between The Land and The Sea, the highly anticipated - but clunkily-titled - UNIT-centric Doctor Who spin-off, splashes down on BBC 1 on Sunday, December 7 at 8.30pm (and on iPlayer).

The five-part serial, which begins with a double-bill, follows:

...Barclay (Russell Tovey), a low-level UNIT staff member whose ordinary life becomes a world of terror when an ancient species rises from the sea.

Barclay becomes humanity’s ambassador when the mysterious Salt (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) emerges from the Tank at a summit on the Thames.

UNIT, led by Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (Jemma Redgrave), fights for control as humanity faces destruction.

The BBC's publicity for the show also states:

Alongside Russell Tovey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, and Jemma Redgrave, the series features a star-studded cast including Ruth Madeley as Shirley Bingham, Alexander Devrient as Colonel Christofer 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 War Between The Land and The Sea is, of course, the last remnant of the now-terminated partnership between the BBC and Disney, and is expected to surface on Disney Plus early next year.

We're all assuming the aquatic species involved is the Sea Devils, but unless this is a major redesign of a classic look, I still believe they could be the Fish People from 1967's The Underwater Menace. But, let's be honest, my suppositions on such matters are wrong more often than not!