There’s a major connection between the two spinoffs.
As Doctor Who fans get ready to dive into the new five part spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea, the show’s creator and long time franchise figure has shared some insight into possible wider Whoniverse connections. The mini series follows UNIT (Unified Intelligence Taskforce) commander in chief Kate Lethbridge Stewart (Jemma Redgrave), Colonel Christofer Ibrahim (Alexander Devrient) and newcomer Barclay (Russell Tovey) as they work to stop an escalating global conflict between humanity and the Doctor’s classic foes, The Sea Devils.
Along with bringing back these iconic villains, who first battled Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor in 1972, the new story also connects directly to the early 2000s spin-off Torchwood, particularly its third season, Children of Earth, most notably through the return of Colin McFarlane’s General Austin Pierce.
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When asked about possible connections, showrunner and writer Russell T Davies told RadioTimes.com:
I think you’ll have fun if you watch this and Children of Earth together, because they’re both about alien species – or otherworldly species – encountering the human race in an ambassadorial context.
Torchwood fans paying close attention will likely move this straight to the top of their watchlist, as Davies added:
We use a lot of the same sets as we used in Children of Earth… you’ll see a lot of the same staircases appear, a lot of the same corridors… It’s in the same world.
In one of the spin off series’ darkest storylines, the highly praised third chapter showed the alien race known as 456 returning to Earth and demanding that the British government surrender 10 per cent of the world’s children, or they would wipe out the human race.
In response, the government ordered the assassination of all Torchwood members to hide their earlier involvement with the aliens in 1965, which led to devastating consequences for the secret team.
The new UNIT focused spin off presents a similarly intense confrontation between humanity and another species, with Davies explaining:
It is how I think we would approach an alien species, as ambassadors, for formal talks, so [it’s a] very different show, very different things happening, but I hope someone splices together the scenes that take place in the same corridors.
We are already excited to see the fan made crossover edit that will surely appear once The War Between the Land and the Sea arrives on screens this December.
Keep an eye out for more updates on The War Between the Land and the Sea, including news, interviews, features, and other coverage. The War Between the Land and the Sea will be available on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 7th December.