The War Between The Land And The Sea episode 5 by Russell T Davies (TV review).
Episode 5: The End Of The War by Russell T Davies
So here we are for the fifth and last episode. Be careful about reading beyond this point unless you want spoilers. If you want an odd thought, though. If Homo Aqua owns all the water, that means no more baths or drinking water. Things are going to be tough.
Now here’s an interesting thought. There’s always been a Lethbridge-Stewart running UNIT, but it’s pretty obvious that Kate hasn’t been married, so is that the end of her line, or has she got cousins? Kate also plays dirty when she wants her own way.
UNIT is also examining Pierce-Dupont, trying to figure out how he survived decompression when Salt brought him to the surface.
The peace talks were a distraction. Aquakind are taking their planet back by melting the polar regions. Humans are already lost.
Pierce-Dupont finally meets up with Salt on the Wales beach and is told to get a message of one word with weight to them: ‘Accord’, although that turns out to be a wasted sub-plot.
We hear about ‘Severance’ but don’t even know what that really means except that one in ten of Aquakind is killed by a fungus, and Salt is re-established as envoy and says they have lost. Pierce-Dupont says they can have the Mariana Trench as their own land.
The rest at the end is a spoiler. So let’s discuss the implications. We don’t actually see who is causing this behind the scenes. We know some of the people involved, and Salt notes they will get their revenge with their control of water, so obviously they know who did it. We also don’t know what was done to Pierce-Dupont when he was drugged. The questions keep mounting up as to what was happening behind the scenes. Do the polar regions refreeze or at least go back to the way they were damaged by global warming?
Speaking as a writer, the last episode is not conventional. We like to see the cards on the table. Who is doing what to whom and why? It’s thrown away and more like avant-garde, i.e., experimental. Do viewers really want this kind of story, especially as it’s being shown worldwide? The way it’s played also signifies the possibility that neither Davies nor McTighe had any real solution to end the story in its last episode, and the war becomes incidental to the love affair. If it was really intended this way, they either need to buck their ideas up or, in one of the standalone stories, explain what the heck they are playing at. By rights, mankind should have lost or sued for peace. Certainly not be as underhand as this. No wonder the Doctor steered away from this. Not waving, drowning.
GF Willmetts
21 December 2025
