Doctor Who spin-off that's still undated on Disney Plus debuts to better ratings than seasons 1 and 2 in the UK

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Doctor Who spin-off that's still undated on Disney Plus debuts to better ratings than seasons 1 and 2 in the UK News By Amy West published 9 December 2025

If you exclude Joy to the World, anyway...

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We may not know when Doctor Who spin-off The War Between Land and Sea will premiere in the US yet but if it's UK ratings are anything to go by, it'll be worth the wait.

As pointed out by TV Zone on Twitter, the sci-fi's first episode, which aired on BBC One on December 7, pulled in close to 3 million viewers. No mean feat, considering it was committing with the final of popular reality show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! across the pond. Its immediate follow-up got over 2 million, too, making both instalments bigger ratings hits than seasons 1 and 2 of the main series. If you exclude 'Joy to the World', the most recent Christmas special, that is...

Created by Russell T Davies, The War Between Land and Sea centers on Barclay Pierre-Dupont (Davies' frequent collaborator Russell Tovey), a low-level officer who's unexpectedly tasked with leading the parlé between UNIT and newly revealed species, the Homo aqua. Loki's Gugu Mbatha-Raw stars as the Homo aqua, otherwise known as the Sea Devils, ambassador Salt, while Jemma Redgrave, Colin McFarlane, Alexander Devrient, and Ruth Madeley round out the supporting cast.

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"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," Tovey previously said of his character in an interview with The Independent. "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."

While we wait for more news on The War Between Land and Sea, check out our picks of the greatest sci-fi TV shows of all time. Spoiler, Doctor Who comes in at #14.

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I am an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things TV and film across our Total Film and SFX sections. Elsewhere, my words have been published by the likes of Digital Spy, SciFiNow, PinkNews, FANDOM, Radio Times, and Total Film magazine.

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