Doctor Who Spin-off Beats Seasons 1 and 2 in UK Ratings — Still No Disney Plus Date
Subtract Joy to the World, and the charts tell a different story: an unlikely carol takes the throne and rewrites the soundtrack of December.
Here we go: we still don't have a US premiere date for Doctor Who spin-off The War Between Land and Sea, but the show just launched big in the UK. And honestly, if those numbers are any hint, it'll be worth waiting for.
Strong UK start (even with tough competition)
The first episode aired on BBC One on December 7 and pulled in close to 3 million viewers, as flagged by TV Zone. Not exactly an easy slot either — it was up against the finale of the very popular I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! The second episode, which followed immediately after, cleared 2 million. Together, those two installments drew more viewers than Seasons 1 and 2 of the main series — if you set aside the recent Christmas special Joy to the World.
What is this thing?
Created by Russell T Davies, The War Between Land and Sea follows Barclay Pierre-Dupont (played by Davies regular Russell Tovey), a low-level officer who gets tapped to lead a high-stakes parley between UNIT and a newly revealed species, the Homo aqua. Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Loki) plays Salt, the Homo aqua ambassador — you might know these folks by another Doctor Who name: the Sea Devils. The supporting cast is stacked with familiar faces.
- Russell Tovey as Barclay Pierre-Dupont
- Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Salt, ambassador for the Homo aqua/Sea Devils
- Jemma Redgrave
- Colin McFarlane
- Alexander Devrient
- Ruth Madeley
Tovey on the kind of hero he's playing
Tovey told The Independent that Barclay isn't your usual blaster-first guy, and that's the point:
"I hope that many, many people can see themselves in him and then feel inspired to do something – that they see that every man can be the most important man. Barclay is someone who gets chosen because of kindness, because of showing empathy. He's thrust into this terrifying place, out of his depth, but when he's there, he doesn't choose anger or violence. He's calm and peaceful and shows respect to this lifeform that people are othering. It's such a beautiful message that what he's seen and celebrated for are his sensitivities, for being soft and kind – especially as a man."
So, when can the US watch it?
Still TBA. But the early UK audience response says the spin-off has landed. Now we wait for the US date to catch up.