It’s not quite a shocker on par with Robert Downey Jr. returning to the MCU—after all, actors have returned to the world of Doctor Who before (hi, Peter Capaldi!). But it is kind of funny that the just-announced Doctor Who spinoff series The War Between the Land and Sea is set to star two actors who previously had small but key roles in the main Doctor Who series: Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
The five-part The War Between the Land and Sea, which was announced at San Diego Comic Con, seems to be the UNIT-focused spinoff that was announced last year. The BBC’s synopsis says, “When a fearsome and ancient species emerges from the ocean, dramatically revealing themselves to humanity, an international crisis is triggered. With the entire population at risk, UNIT step into action as the land and sea wage war.”
Sea devils? Yep, sea devils.
Jemma Redgrave returns as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart, as does Alexander Devrient as Colonel Ibrahim. Tovey and Mbatha-Raw, on the other hand, are playing different characters than they did in the past.
Mbatha-Raw played Tish Jones, Martha Jones’ sister, in the third season of new Who. (More recently, she’s been in Loki, pictured above, and The Morning Show.) Tovey, who starred in the original British Being Human, played Alonso Frame in “Voyage of the Damned,” the third Christmas special of the Who revival era.
Both actors appeared in episodes written by Russell T. Davies, who was the Who showrunner then and, of course, is the showrunner now. He’s the creator of this spinoff series, which he wrote with Pete McTighe (who has two previous Who episodes to his name). It’s directed by another Who vet, Dylan Holmes-Williams.
The War Between the Land and Sea begins filming next month; no premiere date has been announced.
