The Man Who Would Be King: Russell T Davies

Donald Twain is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

Russell T Davies is the UK’s greatest living TV dramatist and lest we forget, the man who rescued Doctor Who from the dark, shallow TV grave it had been tipped into by an unsentimental and embarrassed BBC in 1989.

Some of us old ones remember a time before he worked exclusively on Doctor Who. A time when a new Russell T Davies drama was prime time event television. Queer as Folk, The Second Coming, Bob and Rose, Casanova. Event television from a TV god.

And what did this TV god crave the most, and arguably put his career on hiatus to resurrect? Doctor Who. Yes, think about that a little longer. Aside from the just released Cucumber, Russell won’t have worked on anything that has seen the light of day and hasn’t been a part of the Whoniverse for 12 years. I personally regret that hugely, but nonetheless, it’s a fact. I also wonder what would have happened if the US TV movies with Tennant and Piper, planned for post Series 4 but pulled in favour of a soft Moffatt reboot had transpired? He’d still be showrunner today, one of the fascinating ‘what ifs’ of NuWho.

But Russell’s already done it, I hear you cry? And my answer is that’s true. And yet, he’s never really left the building either for any great length of time with Torchwood on hiatus (not cancelled) ready to return any time and Sarah Jane only really cancelled due to the untimely death of Lis Sladen. He’s never stopped being involved really and loves the show passionately. A return, for me is not only desirable but the one of the more obvious conclusion.

Consider this naysayers. Doctor Who is one of the most complex shows made in Britain, nay Europe. It’s a monster of an undertaking with a complex history, brutal shooting schedule and complex budget which demands 13 motion pictures a year on the budget that never covers it. We demand much as fans and yet we take this all for granted that by magic, it will happen every year. And that’s all down to the genius of Russell.

The dim and distant 2005 was a very different place in the TV landscape. It’s a whole strata of rock now gone. There was nothing like this on TV and hadn’t been for a long time. We’d gone by turns, cosy and kitchen sink. Doctor Who was considered career suicide in the industry, and indeed many commentators urged Russell to do something, anything else when the announcement was made. Thankfully he ignored them.

He also ignored many of the fans, thankfully. The Doctor’s an asexual, lonely God went the cry. No hanky panky in the TARDIS they said. Cobblers, said Russell. His Doctor was a more rounded emotional character. Actions had consequences, desire was at the heart of the action and an emotional truth shared the billing with plot and character. Dialogue, seemingly effortless convinced us of the Doctor and the shop girl. He, showing off hiding the pain, her growing as a person but occasionally petulant. It’s no surprise to me that nobody has ever supplanted Rose in the affections of the public. Real characters in unreal situations with the Doctor as the last candle in the dark. That’s my boiled-down-to-the-essence, manifesto for Who and that was also Russell’s gift to us all.

It probably sounds like I’m gushing, and perhaps I am. But Russell remains television royalty and even if anyone else had been at the helm in 2005, I honestly believe it wouldn’t have made it this far.

So, if Russell; the man who used to be king, is to become the king of all he surveys once more, how does that come about? Well for starters, you can argue that his involvement with Sarah Jane Adventures and Torchwood only really ends three years ago, so it’s not a stretch to add Who back into the mix for this huge talent. I’m also going to declare a selfish interest here too. I love Russell T Davies’ drama. He’s a voice like no other on our television and I want new drama from him, dammit. But I want him back on Who too. Of course, television is an elastic format and I’m convinced it could work in lots of ways.

In particularly, I’m very attracted to the idea of Russell returning full time for a year, retooling and setting his team up before taking a back seat like a mini Sydney Newman of Who with a radical new firebrand showrunner (say Howard Overman from Misfits, or even Brian Elsley of RTD’s much admired Skins, off the top of my head) as co-Producer. Alternatively, it could open up a series of guest seasons from the usual suspects of Mark Gatiss, Toby Whithouse, Anthony Horowitz or even someone from the US like Ronald D Moore, leaving Russell to carve out whatever role he fancied while keeping a watchful eye over things. He could contribute a few scripts, shape the season and act as brand guardian, while also overseeing a radical reinvention of the series and delivering other drama output. It’s got to be appealing to the BBC too with the ultimate safe pair of hands (albeit infused with a radical, and an undeniably ‘now’ quality) at the helm long term steering the ship with a firm hand. It also makes the succession question much easier in the future and gives us a continually refreshed show. This, my friends is what is usually termed as a win-win.

Douglas Adams used to famously say that the most you can change Doctor Who is 15% a year before the audience reacts negatively. He’s right and change must terrify a colossus like BBC. That’s why Russell coming back for me in a different guise is THE answer. The BBC, fans, viewing public and drama connoisseurs; we could literally have our cake and eat it.

Perhaps, though we should leave the final word to Russell himself on the role of the showrunner and, as is often overlooked in these fun little debates which are akin to television fantasy football, exactly why it matters.

Russell attended an “In conversation” event with Jeanette Winterson back in February 2014 at Manchester’s Cornerhouse, and I took the opportunity to ask him whether the position of showrunner had been central to his deal to bring back Doctor Who in 2005. His reply was fascinating.

“It was central, yes. I mean I was already an executive producer on things I was making, things like the Second Coming. My involvement was always there. I was particularly keen on it with Doctor Who. It’s a show that can be ruined by a hat, Doctor Who. The wrong hat, someone in a silly hat. People can have spent all the time in the world on a great script, cast a great actor. Lesley Sharp, if she’s in a silly hat, you’re f**ked. So literally, that’s the thing about science fiction. It’s much more ornate, much more visual, more glossy. And all those visuals can go wrong. I also think television should be run like that anyway. I was especially wary, as it was a tricky technical thing, and an in-house production as opposed to an outside production. It was very dinosaur-ey, full of red tape and ‘that’s not the way we do things here’. So it was absolutely of paramount importance that I wouldn’t get undermined. That I would get my say. It’s a powerplay, if you like. It was needed on a show like that. It still is needed now”.

Russell T Davies. The man who never stopped being King.

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