Watch The War Between the Land and the Sea: Stream the show from anywhere

But with the Doctor seemingly busy elsewhere in time and space, this is one problem the human race will have to solve for themselves. UNIT, led by the returning Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (Jemma Redgrave), will inevitably come to the fore, but it’s a lowly operative named Barclay (Russell Tovey) who’ll hold the fate of surface-dwellers in his hands. He’s the unlikely choice to front the negotiations with a Homo Amphibia representative named Salt (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), and the pair go on to form a tight, possibly romantic bond — all against the backdrop of a potential world war.

If you’re a UK resident travelling overseas (or maybe underseas?) right now, you can still watch “The War Between the Land and the Sea” for FREE on BBC iPlayer. Unfortunately, geoblocking restrictions mean that iPlayer doesn’t work outside of the UK, but a VPN can solve that problem…

Before battle lines are drawn, take a peek at what’s coming in a pair of ‘The War Between the Land and the Sea’ trailers:

(Image credit: BBC)

‘The War Between the Land and the Sea’ will consist of five episodes. The first two will debut in a double-bill release on December 7, and the rest will drop on subsequent sundays.

You can see the full list below:

(Image credit: BBC)

The show’s leads, Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, both appeared in “Doctor Who” during the first David Tennant era — as Midshipman Alonso Frame and Tish Jones, respectively — but they have all-new roles here. Tovey plays UNIT negotiator Barclay Pierre-Dupont, while Mbatha-Raw is Homo Aqua representative Salt.

The following actors reprise existing roles from “Doctor Who” and “Torchwood”:

Jemma Redgrave as UNIT head Kate Lethbridge-StewartRuth Madeley as UNIT scientific advisor Shirley BinghamAlexander Devrient as UNIT security chief Colonel Christofer IbrahimColin McFarlane as General Austin PierceLachele Carl as newsreader Trinity Wells

The following actors also have roles in the five-part series:

Patrick Baladi as Sir Keith SpearsAdrian Lukis as Sir Jonathan HynesVincent Franklin as Prime Minister Harry ShawFrancesca Corney as Sergeant Hana ChakriMei Mac as Min TsoWaleed Hammad as Tariq HashimManpreet Bachu as Ravi SinghHannah Donaldson as Captain Louise MackieAnn Akinjirin as Barbara Pierre-Dupont

The “War Between the Land and the Sea” was created by long-standing “Doctor Who” showrunner Russell T Davies, who co-wrote the series with “Who” veteran Pete McTighe.