The Russell T Davies Interview

Five years ago, if you’d mentioned Doctor Who to anyone you’d have probably inspired a host of fuzzy memories about wobbly sets, hammy acting and gaffer-taped monsters. But that’s certainly not the case any more. In its current incarnation, the show has become a global smash worth £100m a year, won three Baftas and is among the biggest shows on TV. It’s a roaring modern success and the BBC owe it all to one man: writer and producer Russell T Davies.
“It still amazes me,” says the 46-year-old, musing on the huge success his version has become. “I’ve always loved the show and hoped this would happen, but most things have a big burst of interest and then the viewers eventually wander away. We’ve worked really hard to keep the momentum up and keep it new, fresh and exciting.” And right now, the time-travelling Saturday staple is about to experience its biggest shift in momentum since its successful resurrection in 2005. Davies is set to hand the Tardis keys to Coupling creator Steven Moffat, who has already written several Who episodes (including the Bafta-winning ‘Blink’), and current Doctor David Tennant will regenerate into newcomer Matt Smith after three winter specials. The first of those – ‘The Waters Of Mars’ – sees the Doc (far right) land on a Martian base for what’s been called one of his darkest and scariest stories yet. Never mind hiding behind the sofa, is he setting kids up for a future stint on the psychiatrist’s couch? “It’s dark in comparison to some episodes but it is completely child-safe,” says Davies. “There’s no blood or gore but there’s a lot of emotion and [psychological] fear so I think the kids will be all right, but Mum and Dad will be so scared they’ll need their hands held!” Indeed, Davies seems at ease with the darker themes. He may have learned his trade script-editing soaps at Granada but he baulks at the idea of happy endings and is unapologetic about a child-killing sequence in Who spin-off Torchwood that earned a flurry of complaints earlier this year. After all, this is the same man behind the groundbreaking and controversial drama Queer As Folk. “Drama’s not safe and it’s not pretty and it’s not kind. People expect the basic template of television drama where there might be naughty villains, but everyone ends up having a nice cup of tea. You’ve got to do big moral choices and show the terrible things people do in terrible situations. Drama is failing if it doesn’t do that.”