Russell T Davies stands by Doctor Who decisions
Russell T. Davies has questioned if he should have "done something different" with Doctor Who after his recent tenure as showrunner received a mixed reaction - but is proud of what he did.
Russell T. Davies has questioned if he should have "done something different" with Doctor Who - but is proud of what he did.
The BBC sci-fi drama series has been put out to competitive tender after two seasons of disappointing ratings, but the former showrunner - who was at the helm from 2005 until 2010 before returning in 2023 - wasn't "personally wounded" by the backlash to his recent stint and hopes the episodes will be "appreciated" more in the years to come.
He told The Guardian newspaper: “I’m not personally wounded by that. I thought it was a shame. And maybe I wonder if I should have done something different. Except I f****** love what I did!
“I work really hard on my shows, and I genuinely love them. I think there are waves of hatred, and maybe in a few years it’ll be more appreciated. But it’s appreciated by ME!”
With the show's future up in the air, Russell is worried there will be no one to "champion" it.
Asked what he thinks it would take to save the show, he said: “Part of the problem is that there seem to be spasms and ruptures and cuts at the BBC. My worry is that there’s nobody there to champion it. You need a producer saying, ‘What about Doctor Who? What about Doctor Who? What about Doctor Who?’ every single day. That’s gone."
And the writer believes the programme may have to take a different format or structure to appeal to a modern audience.
He said: "In 2005, I made it exactly like a 9pm ITV drama, with a lot of the rhythms of everyday life. That concept has gone now, so maybe it’ll end up as a vertical drama [clip shows designed to be watched on a smartphone] with a cliffhanger every two minutes? When it returns, it should be part of whatever the rest of telly is doing.”
If the show does return, Russell won't say who he thinks would make a good Doctor.
He said: “I’ve made the mistake of saying so-and-so would be good, and the next thing you know, journalists are at their door.”
Meanwhile, Russell, 63, has found love with 27-year-old model Oliver Cole and he felt the need to report their romance to Doctor Who bosses because the model - who he connected with on Instagram - is a fan of the show.
Asked if Oliver is a Doctor Who fan, he replied: “He is, but that takes about five minutes of conversation; it’s not like we sit there discussing the Rani.
“When it became a relationship, I reported it to the bosses at Doctor Who, in case anyone tried to say I was abusing my position by going out with a fan.”
Noting over 13 million watched the show at one point, he laughed: “And there’s not many you’d go out with. You know that’s true!”
