SDCC 2024: Doctor Who spinoff, The War Between the Land and the Sea announced!
Disney Branded Television and BBC jointly announced The War Between The Land And The Sea, an all-new Doctor Who spinoff, during San Diego Comic-Con. Leading the five-part series is Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, alongside returning Doctor Who cast members Jemma Redgrave (as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart) and Alexander Devrient (as Colonel Ibrahim).
When a fearsome and ancient species emerges from the ocean, dramatically revealing themselves to humanity, an international crisis is triggered. With the entire population at risk, UNIT steps into action as the land and sea wage war. Created by Doctor Who showrunner and executive producer Russell T Davies, who wrote the spinoff with Pete McTighe, the series features the triumphant return of the Sea Devils, classic Doctor Who villains first seen in 1972.
Filming begins next month and will be directed by Dylan Holmes-Williams, director of two Doctor Who season one episodes: “73 Yards” and “Dot and Bubble.” The series will air exclusively on Disney+ where available and BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the U.K.
Sunday night writer/director/actor/podcaster/pot enthusiast Kevin Smith hosted “An Evening With” at the Lincoln Theater in Washington, DC. Smith covered a range of topics including his family, career, and more in a 2 hour chat where he was his usual entertaining and open self.
Welcome to the Vortex Butterflies story line, featuring the Tenth Doctor and his comic-exclusive companions Gabby Gonzalez and Cindy Wu. #3.7 is the second issue in the Vortex Butterflies arc, so I recommend picking up 3.6 before diving in. However, the arc so far is a wonderful entry point into the Doctor Who comics. Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #3.7 starts with the Doctor at a space junkyard, picking up a machine that will help him record temporal waves and register “vortex leaks”. He left his companions at a safe house in London, and their travel buddy Noob on the Xenopsychology planet of the Zokadyll. All three stories unfold simultaneously, and their narratives are well-balanced and easy to follow. There are answers to some questions (what do Gabby’s new powers actually DO? What is Noob up to on that giant library planet?) while others are left open-ended, meaning I’m now anxiously awaiting 3.8!
The book has appeal for both die-hard Whovians, and those new to the series. Most importantly, it adapts the show into the comics format seamlessly. There is plenty of timey-wimey talk, but the elements that matter get a closer examination, making the rest the familiar background noise of our favorite show-off timelord.
Rachael Smith’s bonus comic at the end of the book took me by surprise. It’s a breath of goofy fresh air at the end of a high stakes adventure-in-progress. I don’t think I stopped smiling from the first panel to the last. Bringing Rose back to Ten’s side in such a realistically teenage way while kicking the comedy up to eleven (no pun intended). I hope this is a tradition we will see continued in future issues.
After a lot of guessing, rumors, and false reporting, the BBC today announced that Jodie Whittaker will be stepping into the coveted role of the Doctor in Doctor Who. Whittaker will play the 13th Time Lord taking over for Peter Capaldi who last played the role. Capaldi took over the role in 2013 and will end his run during this year’s Christmas Special during which Whittaker will make her debut.
The first episode of this hilarious series focuses mostly on Todd and his horrible, very bad day. In a matter of 24 hours he’s had his car destroyed by his landlord over stolen rent money, gets fired from his job after finding a gruesome crime scene, had Dirk break into his apartment and get into a slap boxing fight with him, travel to his sick sister’s to cheer her up and jam with her before she has a pain attack, be attacked by a gang of thugs, almost gets shot on multiple occasions and almost gets arrested, TWICE. Things do turn around in the very end of the episode when he starts to believe some of Dirks mumbo jumbo thanks to a found dog and a winning lottery ticket
The rest of the characters in this aren’t exactly living a normal life either. We get introduced to Ken, who is dragged along on what can only be considered a murderous rampage with Bart, a Holistic Assassin, two cops who seem to turn up whenever Todd is in the vicinity of a murder scene and, a couple of supernatural hunting FBI agents.
Overall, I found the premiere episode pretty darn interesting, they managed to mix murder, mayhem, and humor in a way that I haven’t seen since Dexter and I’m looking forward to not only finally finishing the books but seeing more episodes and finding out where the show will take us. I’m fully prepared to strap in for the ride because wherever this show goes, it’s going to be fun. Things are pretty heavy and dark all over but, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency might just be the light, fun diversion we’ve been waiting for