Like many Doctor Who TV spinoffs, The War Between the Land and the Sea has only incidental references to the franchise's main character so far. While some Whovians may find this disappointing, I like it when the long-running sci-fi saga makes room to flesh out areas of the canon that are addressed less often. The War Between does just that, bringing UNIT to the forefront in a way that has never been done before.
Originally referred to as the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, UNIT first appeared in Doctor Who in a 1968 serial called "The Invasion," which starred Patrick Troughton's Second Doctor. Certain parts of the episodes have been lost since, but animated sequences have now been made to fill in the blanks. UNIT has since become a semi-regular staple of Doctor Who and has returned to play a big part in some very important storylines.
As one of the only friendly aliens who regularly visits Earth, the Doctor often serves as a UNIT advisor when an extraterrestrial threat looms large over the human homeworld. As such, Doctor Who routinely uses UNIT for a very specific sort of storyline. The War Between the Land and the Sea is an outlier in this respect, but the shift in how the franchise usually frames UNIT results in a beautifully compelling experience.
The War Between the Land and the Sea is the best representation yet of how UNIT usually operates
The Doctor's immense knowledge of how the galaxy works makes him the perfect person to lend a hand in times of extraterrestrial crisis. In Doctor Who, it makes perfect sense that UNIT would defer to the Doctor whenever he's there. He knows so much more than anyone else on staff, so it would be foolish not to let him take the lead. Even when he acts without the authority to do so, everyone at UNIT is so accustomed to his rebellious nature paying off, they don't really care about him going rogue.
However, although 2025's "Lucky Day" allowed for a brief glimpse into how UNIT deals with a threat without the Doctor present, the episode focused on other things and had an especially unconventional opponent to try and quell that fell outside the category of extraterrestrials. Similarly, The War Between is a multi-episode run that closely follows how UNIT responds to something worldwide that could put humanity in danger. Because the Homo Aqua aren't aliens (they evolved in Earth's oceans), calling on the Doctor's expertise isn't strictly necessary. He isn't human, wouldn't be accepted as an ambassador by Salt (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), and would probably refuse to be sidelined.
Therefore, it's completely down to UNIT to take point in The War Between, without a Time Lord advisor. Although there are quite a few UNIT-centric stories in Doctor Who, none of them chronicled the organization's inner workings anywhere near as well as The War Between, and it shows them handling things in a way that would be far more common for them than simply taking a backseat to what the Doctor thinks they should do, or having him steal the show. It's a really cool premise that I am genuinely surprised hasn't been used sooner.
Furthermore, with Russell T Davies' decision to introduce a revamped UNIT team in 2023, with Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) continuing to lead everyone, the returning showrunner made sure the familiarize the audience with a few appearances in Doctor Who from these new characters before expecting us to care about them in The War Between. Other than the occasional UNIT officer, it's often been difficult to care all that much about the organization's employees. Davies has fixed that.
Doctor Who's UNIT spinoff feels like a love letter to every era of the franchise
The presence of UNIT in The War Between is an embedded reference to Doctor Who's classic era, but so is the decision to include the Sea Devils so prominently, who debuted in the 1970s. That said, both UNIT and the Sea Devils have featured since the franchise's 2005 revival, and with Russell T Davies serving as showrunner again, his writing style also helps make The War Between feel like the Whoniverse did in the 2000s — especially when compared to the more mature tone found in Torchwood.
Although Doctor Who's Disney era has been pretty divisive, it can't be denied that the franchise received a visual upgrade thanks to the increased budget brought about by the BBC's decision to find a collaborator. So, combine the classic-era elements, the RTD scripts, and the glossy aesthetic that has defined Disney's input, and The War Between the Land and the Sea feels like it's acknowledging many of the things that have helped Doctor Who shine through the decades.
The War Between the Land and the Sea is streaming now in the UK on the BBC iPlayer. Disney+ will host the show in 2026 for international audiences.