Former Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has revealed that he planned for spin-off show The War Between the Land and the Sea to become a returning series.
The War Between the Land and the Sea aired in 2025, focused on the work of UNIT, aka the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, and tracked the story of an ancient oceanic species that sparked an international crisis as it made itself known to the human race.
While it received favourable reviews from critics – with RadioTimes rating it 4/5 stars and aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes giving an overall 86% rating – it prompted a more mixed response from fans.
Davies, who was showrunner of the Whoniverse from 2005 to 2010 before returning in 2023, announced his exit earlier this year, alongside the announcement that Doctor Who had been put out to tender.
A deal between the BBC and Disney also came to an end, with currently no announced plans for The War Between... to return.
However, in his new book The Queerest of Folk: A Life in Television, Davies revealed there were plans for The War Between to become a "recurring format", exploring other elements of humanity and UNIT’s efforts to protect it from alien and supernatural attacks.
He wrote: "If the Disney deal had been successful, we would have done a different story every year – we had such good ideas, like The War Between the Earth and the Moon, The War Between the Men and the Women, and my favourite, The War Between the Cleverer than Not, which is frankly the story of our society now."
Davies noted that "the steam’s going out of the concept", which he considered "a shame", especially as the planned follow-up, The War Between the Earth and the Moon – which would also have starred Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart – was already deep in development.
"It was brilliantly contentious," he wrote. "A mad, tyrannical American president, at the end of his days, about to face impeachment and prison, visits the unit Moonbase and starts a revolution, his private army commandeering the place as his own.
"He declares independence, and the base has nuclear weapons aimed at the Earth. So, who's in charge now?
"At the same time, some weird, creepy, wailing, unearthly essence is being dug up on a nearby crater."
In terms of what's confirmed to be coming up in the Whoniverse, it was recently announced that a Christmas special audio adventure from Big Finish will feature Ninth Doctor star Christopher Eccleston and Susan icon Carole Ann Ford.
Meanwhile, a CBeebies spin-off called Doctor Who: TARDIS Crew has unveiled a first look at the new animated Time Lord.
The Queerest of Folk: A Life in Television by Russell T Davies is available to buy now.
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