Doctor Who boss reveals the huge impact of The Doctor's absence from new spin-off

Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies has opened up about how the Doctor's absence will impact upcoming spin-off The War Between the Land and the Sea.

UNIT and co will be forced to deal with a world-threatening crisis, with the Time Lord nowhere to be seen in the new five-part series, which will see classic Doctor Who monsters the Sea Devils emerge from the oceans and confront humanity.

Teasing what's to come, Davies explained: "One of the most interesting things you can do with Doctor Who is to take the Doctor out. This is a world without the Doctor, and we’re seeing how we cope as the human race. There are monsters, there's romance, there are chases, there's gunfights."

He added: "It’s little bit tougher than Doctor Who, it takes on tougher themes, and people have tougher reactions in it, again, because there's no Doctor.

"Normally the Doctor has a magic blue doorway they can take everybody safely through, that safety net has gone. You very much find these characters up against the wall and pushed to the limit."

The War Between the Land and the Sea will star Russell Tovey as "everyman" Barclay, who suddenly has to take on a crucial role as the Earth faces a major conflict. Over the course of the season, he'll form an unexpected bond with Gugu Mbatha-Raw's Salt.

While the new series is separate to Doctor Who, writer Pete McTighe has promised there will be Easter eggs for Whovians.

Speaking to RadioTimes.com, he said: "There are absolutely Easter eggs to be seen – if you get the pause button ready, you'll be seeing plenty of stuff.”

“What's great about the Sea Devils as a civilisation is we didn't really know much about them before,” Davies explains. “Essentially, they were monsters on a beach in Portsmouth, or in Sea Base, we didn't really delve into their culture and their society, and that's what we're able to do a lot more of here.”

And it looks like Whovians will finally get a glimpse at their home world. “We spend a lot more time with them, we actually go to their world in episode 3, which is incredible,” he continued.

“You get to see how they live and their environment and all the different species, so that's been a huge amount of fun to expand the backstory.”

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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