Doctor Who boss reveals how new spin-off is linked to Torchwood: Children of Earth
There's one big link between the two spin-offs.
As Doctor Who fans prepare to dive head-first into a brand new spin-off with the forthcoming five-part series The War Between the Land and the Sea, the show’s creator and franchise stalwart – has opened up about any further Whoniverse connections.
The mini series features UNIT (Unified Intelligence Taskforce) commander-in-chief Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (Jemma Redgrave), Colonel Christofer Ibrahim (Alexander Devrient) and newcomer Barclay (Russell Tovey), as they attempt to halt the growing international crisis between mankind and the Doctor’s old enemy, The Sea Devils.
Along with spotlighting the iconic ancient foes – who first faced off against Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor back in 1972 – the new chapter has direct links to early noughties spin-off Torchwood, particularly its third season, Children of Earth, most prominently, the return of Colin McFarlane's General Austin Pierce.
When asked about potential ties, showrunner and writer Russell T Davies exclusively 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.”
Eagle-eyed Torchwood fans will undoubtedly want to move this to the top of their watchlist, as Davies confirmed: “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 show’s darkest arcs, the hugely popular third instalment saw the alien race known as 456 return to Earth, demanding the British government hand over 10 per cent of the world's children – or they would destroy the human race.
As a result, the government ordered the assassination of all Torchwood members in an attempt to cover up their past involvement with the aliens dating back to 1965, with disastrous consequences for the covert team.
The upcoming UNIT-centric spin-off features a similarly tense showdown between mankind and another species, with Davies noting: “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 can’t wait to see the inevitable fan edit of the crossover when The War Between the Land and the Sea splash-lands on our screens this December!
Stay tuned for more about The War Between the Land and the Sea, including news, interviews, features, and more. The War Between the Land and the Sea is coming to BBC One and BBC iPlayer from 7th December.
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Authors
Morgan Jeffery is the Digital Editor for Radio Times, overseeing all editorial output across digital platforms. He was previously TV Editor at Digital Spy and has featured as a TV expert on BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 5 Live and Sky Atlantic.
Nicola Austin is a freelance journalist who loves sci-fi, fantasy and animation. Nicola has written about TV and film for a wide range of publications including Empire, Digital Spy, Radio Times, SciFiNow, Girls on Tops and more. She will always stand by The Mummy as a 90s movie masterpiece.
