I am a huge Russell T Davies fan, but I prefer his non-Who to his Who. As such, I enjoyed the first two episodes of TWBTLATS in the moments when it was Tovey, who very nearly pulls this off, playing likeable everyman with his family. Whereas, when it shifted gears and entered the Whoniverse, propelled by some rather obvious politics, composer Lorne Balfe’s relentless strings and a constant battle with its own effects budget, I struggled to keep a straight face.
Perhaps the overt environmental message is meant as a prompt for the younger generation, but if so, it is all the more misguided – they are far more aware of what their parents have done to our planet than their parents are. They don’t need to be told that “we need to build a better world,” as one clunking line had it. They need us to get out of the way.
Or perhaps, in Tovey’s Barclay, this is meant to be a fanfare for the little man ignored by bloviating politicians. “Maybe it’s time people like me had more of a voice,” Barclay says at one point, in another line that I can barely believe came from the mind of a genius like Davies. I would argue that this again is Boomers preaching to the converted, but in the context of the drama it doesn’t matter. Because all of these lines are delivered by an awkward-looking Tovey in stern conversation with poor old Gugu Mbatha-Raw dressed as a massive fish. In the War Between Earnestness and Accidental Comedy, I’m afraid there can be only one winner.
The War Between the Land and the Sea, and a re-edited version of the 1972 Doctor Who story, The Sea Devils, are both available on BBC iPlayer now
