Did Doctor Who just confirm a long-rumoured spin-off?
73 Yards may have dropped a big clue.
The latest episode of Doctor Who may have just confirmed rumours of a new spin-off that have been circulating since early 2024.
Back in January 2023, Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies confirmed that spin-offs would form part of the show's "next stage" under his stewardship.
Speaking about his decision to return to the series, Davies said: "I thought – with no criticism whatsoever towards the people who were running it at the time, because they were running it within the BBC's measures – it was time for the next stage for Doctor Who.
"I thought the streaming platforms are ready, the spin-offs are ready; I always believed in spin-offs when I was there. I did Torchwood as a spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures as a spin-off.
"Those spin-offs declined when I left, and I can see why. And I very much left after 2008, when the money became scarce. I think that's fair enough for the public service broadcaster that the money is spent on other things."
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Earlier this month, Davies offered an official update on the planned spin-offs, confirming that "there are offices that exist now" for the development of these new shows.
Now, we might just have got confirmation that one rumoured spin-off is indeed about to materialise...
The opening scenes of latest episode 73 Yards see the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) delighted to have landed the TARDIS in Wales. When companion Ruby (Millie Gibson) asks how he can be so certain as to their location, he replies, "That smell, that green, that coastline...
"Ruby, oh... the rocks and the water, it never ends – the war between the land and the sea."
In January 2024, an entry on the website Production List – which posts announcements of new TV and film projects in pre-production – suggested that a Doctor Who spin-off, titled The War Between the Land and the Sea, was in development.
The entry also claimed that the show would feature iconic foes, the Sea Devils. At the time, the BBC declined to comment on this report when approached by RadioTimes.com.
Does the Doctor's line in 73 Yards hint that there might be something to the story? If not, it's a mighty big coincidence...
Last year, ex-Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat – who recently returned to the show to pen the acclaimed episode Boom – spoke to RadioTimes.com about potential spin-offs, suggesting that there was one obvious candidate to be given the treatment.
"There's loads of things you can do, there's loads of ideas in Doctor Who that are good enough for their own show, that's the truth," said Moffat. "The obvious one is UNIT - why did no one just do UNIT?
"I was always half-tempted to do Jenny and Vastra solving crimes in Victorian London with big swords, I thought that would be quite fun. I never got round to it because I was kind of busy.
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"My favourite one they've done so far was The Sarah Jane Adventures because it did the thing you actually have to do, which is address a slightly different audience.
"Doctor Who is kind of a children's programme but [SJA] was definitely a children's programme, of a kind that we sort of don't make anymore, which I think we should, and so I thought that was lovely. But I'm sure whatever Russell comes up with will be exactly the right idea."
Doctor Who continues on Saturday 1st June on BBC iPlayer and BBC One. Previous seasons are available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
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