December 01, 2025
The Lucky Day writer speaks to Doctor Who Magazine about coming aboard for the next adventure in the Whoniverse.
The War Between the Land and the Sea debuts this week on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK, following on Disney+ for the rest of the world in 2026. Joining showrunner Russell T Davies as co-writer is Lucky Day writer Pete McTighe, also known to Doctor Who fans for his work on Tales of the TARDIS and a series of extra-Whoniversal announcement trailers for the Collection Blu-ray series.
Doctor Who Magazine spoke to Pete about what to expect in the exciting new spin-off series, as well as his experience joining the writing team. Read an exclusive preview of the interview from the latest issue below...
Doctor Who Magazine issue 624 is on sale from Thursday 6th November. You can order it here.
Co-writer and executive producer Pete McTighe on The War Between the Land and the Sea…
“I’ve been working on The War Between since 2023. After I handed in my first draft of Lucky Day, my episode for Season 2 of Doctor Who, Russell called me in for a meeting and gave me Episode 1 that he’d already written. He said, ‘I’d love you to come on board and write some more episodes with me.’ I was thrilled because I loved Episode 1 and to work more with Russell is a dream – we work really well together. It’s been really exciting, crafting it all with him, and then seeing the team put it all together.
“Malcolm Hulke did such a fantastic job in creating the Silurians and the Sea Devils. It’s a great idea, a way of doing an alien invasion story without them being alien – he was a very clever man and his stories stand the test of time. Because I knew the history, I was able to bring in a few little Easter eggs for fans of the classic series. The footage we’ve recorded for this series looks fantastic – this has been the best job of my career so far.”
Included with this issue:
THE WAR BETWEEN THE LAND AND THE SEA COLLECTOR’S ART CARDS AND AN AUDIO ADVENTURE WITH THE NINTH DOCTOR
In the magazine:
- As THE WAR BETWEEN THE LAND AND THE SEA surfaces on BBC One and iPlayer, we speak to star RUSSELL TOVEY about his role as Barclay Pierre-Dupont.
- Writer PETE McTIGHE, producer JOEL COLLINS and director DYLAN HOLMES WILLIAMS discuss the development of this eagerly awaited spin-off.
- A preview of the new 90-minute version of Third Doctor classic THE SEA DEVILS.
- UNIT intelligence on previous SEA DEVIL skirmishes!
- Back to 1968! UNIT’s first encounter with the Doctor – 57 years ago!
- Concept artist PETER McKINSTRY talks about his work and his new book The Art of Time Travel.
- Doctor Who showrunner RUSSELL T DAVIES shares his latest 12 Days of Christmas!
- Looking back on 60 years of the Doctor Who Annual.
- We remember Doctor Who’s very first Dalek December…
- …and the many ways in which Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol has influenced Doctor Who.
- We excavate the Cave-Monsters – in the first part of our deep dive into the fact and fiction of Doctor Who and the Silurians.
- A ghost story for Christmas featuring the Fifteenth Doctor…
Regular features:
- GALLIFREY GUARDIAN: News including the launch of The War Between the Land and the Sea, a round-up of this year’s Doctor Who Day activity, and a Children in Need Special.
- Reviews – featuring the latest audios, books and action figures.
- Other Worlds – the essential guide to new stories in Doctor Who’s expanded universe – including the War Doctor’s clash with every Cyberman ever!
- Prizes to be won – you could win a massive Christmas bundle of Blu-rays and CDs!
Doctor Who Magazine issue 624 is on sale from Thursday 6th November. You can order it here.
