WATCHED - The War Between The Land And The Sea

Enthusiastic as Russell T Davis is, as a fan for the whole Whoniverse franchise, I've ceased thinking of him as the show runner who can salvage it from ultimate retirement. I see him as part of the problem. It needs someone with less reverence for its history, to break the mold that he once re-made, and is now stuck in. A whole mess of accrued 'tymy wymy' nonsense needs binning, and starting afresh as though sixty years of existence never happened. So in some respects The War Between The Land And the Sea as an offshoot, does end up exhibiting some of the same flaws as the last Dr Who iteration, the one that Disney pulled the plug on. 

The drama centres around an ancient sea people, referred to by humans as Homo Aqua, who emerge from the depths because of the ravages of the sea by human industry and economic activity. They throw back everything that's been dumped into the sea, in a rain of plastic refuse on human cities. Their leader Salt ( Gugu Mbatha Raw ) demands that Barclay ( Russel Tovey) a lowly civil servant, becomes the chief negotiator with her. Their growing respect for each other blossoms first into a rebellious partnership, and later into a love affair. War breaking out between the peoples of the land and the sea becomes increasingly inevitable.

One thing that this does largely get right in this drama is its casting. Russell Tovey's abilities as a leading actor are frequently under valued, but here he has a part where he can fully exhibit his acting talent and does that superlatively. I was, on occasions, deeply moved by his performance as the archetypal everyman who often feels like he is floundering, as he reluctantly gets drawn into being a heroic leader. Without the solidity of his presence, this drama would sag far more than it does. The other actor also worthy of praise is Jemma Redgrave, as the devoted head of UNIT, who here gradually falls to pieces through over commitment to her work and personal bereavement. Combined, these two actors are the emotional core of this series. They bring to it the sort of gravitas, the script frequently struggles to realistically grasp.

Russel T Davis at his best, can be an adventurous writer, effortlessly summoning all sorts of moods and responses, whilst also making a drama that has salient political points to make or social commentary, without them feeling laboured. Just re-watch Years an Years, and Its a Sin, if you need reminding. The difficulty here, with The War Between The Land And The Sea, is that its environmental messages are decidedly unsubtly performed. An evil manipulative businessman all but cackles and twists a moustache archly. Politicians venal and only concerned with their public optics or salvaging their reputations. It offers you a series of lazily written cliches, not perceptively presented or revealing of new insights. The right wing press might complain that Davis makes the Whoniverse too woke for its own good, but actually its that it delivers its messages so feebly and stereotypically that's irritating. 

Whilst the series is structured to stretch over five episodes, its pacing feels all over the shot. Spending the first three episodes as though they were literally treading water. Everything develops so incredibly slowly, single scenes are given far too much air time. So it was the end of episode four before it began to propulsively come to life. Its almost as if they'd decided on the scheduling first, and had to stretch out the script to fit into it. I have an issue with the soundtrack, which happens with Dr Who too. It is so loud, too dominant a presence, constantly imposing what you are meant to feel about a scene, upon you. This incessant emotional signaling, becomes a substitute for a poorly conceived dramatic scene. A lot of ramped up aural telling, often unsupported by what you are actually being shown. And that creates an ongoing dissonance to our engagement throughout the series.

Now having said all that, the final episode was really moving, and revealed more fully that this series has really been built around love affairs. I have enjoyed watching the series, whilst all the time being aware that it fell short of being compulsive viewing.  I could have bailed at any moment and felt I'd not missed much. So what kept me there? Russel Tovey mainly. Plus the joke Salt makes about his ears making wonderful gills. That sort of wry wit was sadly far too rare here.

CARROT REVIEW - 5/8