The War Between the Land and the Sea: What time Episode 3 is on tonight and how to watch
The Doctor Who spin-off is returning for a double bill
The War Between the Land and the Sea, a new spin-off from the Doctor Who ‘Whoniverse’, is back tonight – but what time is Episode 3 on?
It’s a bit of a weird time for Doctor Who. Ncuti Gatwa’s brief tenure as the Time Lord (the shortest tenure in the franchise’s history) came to a shocking end in May this year, with *gasp* Billie Piper returning, seemingly as the new Doctor.
There also isn’t a Christmas special this year, and the flagship series won’t return until December next year. The BBC had been in a partnership with Disney Plus to produce and distribute the show overseas, but that agreement has since come to an end.
However, it’s not all doom, gloom, and uncertainty. The War Between the Land and the Sea premiered last week, and it continues tonight.
What time is The War Between the Land and the Sea Episode 3 on?
The War Between the Land and the Sea Episode 3 will air at 8:30pm on Sunday, December 14, on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Here’s an extra bonus: Episode 4 is coming on straight after at 9:20pm. That’s 90 minutes of Whoniverse goodness, and going by last week’s response to the show, plenty of people will be watching.
Specifically, an average of nearly three million viewers watched Episode 1, with around two million people tuned in for the second instalment.
There’s another thing that’s worth bearing in mind: the spin-off has a much different release model compared to Doctor Who.
The most recent season dropped new episodes at 8am on iPlayer, before they aired on BBC One later that day. However, The War Between the Land and the Sea is dropping on iPlayer at the same time as its BBC broadcast.
So, those who want to avoid spoilers better clear any plans for between 8:20pm and 10pm tonight.
What will happen in episode 3 and 4?
Episode 3, titled ‘The Deep’, will follow Barclay as he “makes a terrifying descent into the world of Homo Aqua”.
“Back on the land, Kate stands alone as Downing Street conspires with the army to change the course of the war,” the official synopsis adds.
Remember what happened in the first two episodes: the Homo Aqua, a sea-dwelling race also known as the Sea Devils (which is a derogatory name), who emerge from the ocean to confront mankind.
Things ended rather disastrously on land in Episode 2. Salt (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), the Homo Aqua’s representative, rejected humanity’s ambassador and insisted on dealing with Barclay Pierre-Dupont (Russell Tovey) exclusively.
And then… the underwater race removed all of the plastic pollution from the oceans and rained it down on Earth.
The episode 4 synopsis is quite vague (naturally, so it doesn’t spoil episode 3), but here it is: “Barclay and Salt go on the run in a war-torn London as UNIT reels from disaster. But when Tide threatens the land and Gunsberg advances his plans, the Severance schemes demand blood.”
How to watch The War Between the Land and the Sea
The War Between the Land and the Sea is available to watch as it airs on BBC One, or you can stream it on BBC iPlayer.
Unfortunately, if you’re abroad and don’t have access to the BBC, you may be out of luck. It’s not expected to stream on Disney Plus until sometime in 2026, and iPlayer has geo-restrictions outside the UK.
However, if you have a VPN like ExpressVPN, you can simply change your location and watch it.
Read more: Greatest Doctor Who Christmas special guest stars – Kylie Minogue to Davina McCall
