It made its thrilling debut tonight but some fans noticed a huge issue
Peter Harris Live Content Editor
21:03, 07 Dec 2025
BBC viewers have issued the same complaint just minutes into the first episode of a new drama.
The new series from Russell T Davies made its debut on BBC One tonight (Sunday, December 7). The writer behind It’s A Sin, Years and Years as well as the former showrunner for Doctor Who, introduced fans to a spin-off of the long running sci-fi series.
The War Between The Land and The Sea is a five-part series which branches off from the Whoniverse. According to the show’s synopsis, 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 step into action as the land and sea wage war.
The series may officially serve as a Doctor Who spin-off, however the creator behind it hopes those completely new to the long-running franchise will be able to jump in without any prior knowledge of the Time Lord’s previous adventures.
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Although it exists in the iconic character’s universe, they are absent from this particular story. Explaining the differences, Russell elaborated: “It’s little bit tougher than Doctor Who, it takes on tougher themes, and people have tougher reactions in it, again, because there’ no Doctor.
“Normally the Doctor has a magic blue doorway they can take everybody safely through, that safety net has gone. You very much find these characters up against the wall and pushed to the limit.”
Fans have been eagerly anticipating the first show of its kind since Torchwood ended in 2011. However, minutes into tonight’s first episode, many noticed the same problem.
That was primarily with the sound levels and overall volume, in particular the dialogue between characters. Several viewers watching along at home had trouble keeping up with what was being said.
One character had an important speech early on but fans said they could not hear a word with some admitting they were forced to turn on the subtitles or crank the volume up to the maximum.
It didn’t take long for fans to share their thoughts on social media about the issue. One person posted: “Why is the background music drowning out the dialogue? I can’t hear a b****y thing!”
Fans had trouble hearing crucial dialogue(Image: BBC)
Another added: “I cannot understand what anyone is saying.” While a third agreed: “Any chance you can turn the music down so I have a chance of actually hearing what’s said.”
Someone else asked: “Is #TheWarBetweenTheLandAndTheSea really b****y quiet for anyone else? Had the volume on 8 for The Sea Devils, I’ve had to knock it up to 30.”
One person admitted: “Had to turn on subtitles can’t hear a d**n thing.” Meanwhile another noted: “The sound mix is iffy on #TheWarBetweenTheLandAndTheSea – the dialogue is so lost in the mix – we’ve had to triple the volume since”
The War Between The Land and The Sea continues next Sunday at 8.30pm on BBC One and streaming on iPlayer.
