Russell T. Davies leaves Doctor Who

[Sylph]

Russell T. Davies leaves Doctor Who

When Davies first suggested bringing back the Doctor he was considered barking

Caitlin Moran

An e-mail from Russell T. Davies - my terrific showbiz pal - notes that, in Wales, the fact that he has just stepped down from Doctor Who has made the evening news. 

“The NEWS!” he boggles, before adding, ruefully, “Though the next headline was, They Still Haven't Moved That Skip.” 

And Davies's departure isn't just headline news in Wales. It is news that reverberates across all space and time, from Raxacoricofallapatorius to the end of the Universe and back again. For this isn't just the resignation of a writer and executive producer on a children's TV show. This is the resignation of the 15th most important media player in Britain, as calibrated by The Guardian last year. This is the man who resurrected a piece of British heritage, a key part of our mythology. For Russell T. Davies brought Doctor Who back from the dead, and made this country's playgrounds ring once again with “Exterminate!”, “Get in the Tardis!” and “If you don't let me be the Doctor this time, I won't be your friend.” 

It's hard to believe now, when Doctor Who is to all intents and purposes the BBC's flagship show, but when Davies first suggested bringing back the Doctor he was considered totally barking. In 2003 he had just won the Royal Television Society Award for The Second Coming - Christopher Ecclestone as the new, Mancunian Messiah - and was still surfing off the success of his taboo-busting and hootingly funny gay drama, Queer As Folk. 

Born in Wales, educated at Oxford and settled in Manchester, Davies had made his reputation by taking ostensibly controversial subjects - gay relationships, a new messiah, omnisexual historical adventuring (Casanova), Jonathan Creek going gay, then straight (Alan Davies in Bob & Rose) - and proving that they could make accessible prime-time dramas so long as you wrote the whole thing with joy, wit, tenderness and a fierce line in philosophical relativism. 

So when he used his newfound professional leverage to resurrect Doctor Who - a show remembered primarily for its 1980s decline into overacting, miscasting and monsters made of rick-rack - there was widespread derision - yet he turned in a masterclass of creative reinvention. 

Sometimes, with its cutting-edge FX, Doctor Who is the dystopian sci-fi nightmare of your childhood. Cybermen! Flying Daleks! Skies full of attack ships! And at other times, with its beautifully weighted relationships and ebullient good humour, it's like Coronation Street in space. Its success has been phenomenal, and Davies leaves the show as a writer who could get any project, no matter how ostensibly ludicrous or costly, green-lit. 

“But to be honest, every other job in British TV feels so small, after this job,” he concluded in his e-mail last night. “I might try running ICI instead. Or KFC. I love KFC.”

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol...icle3978617.ece

Steven Moffat to be Doctor Who Lead Writer and Executive Producer




BBC Wales and BBC Drama has announced that BAFTA and Hugo Award-winning writer Steven Moffat will succeed Russell T Davies as Lead Writer and Executive Producer of the fifth series of Doctor Who, which will broadcast on BBC One in 2010.

Moffat has penned some of the series' most unforgettable and acclaimed episodes, including Blink, with its terrifying weeping angels, for which he was awarded the BAFTA Writer Award 2008 on Sunday 11 May. 

His previous work on Doctor Who includes The Girl In The Fireplace for series two, which earned him his second Hugo Award. 

His first was for the series one two-parter The Empty Child, which became famous for its terrifying refrain "Are you my mummy?"

For the current series, Moffat has written Silence In The Library, a two-parter starring Alex Kingston which transmits on 31 May and 7 June 2008 on BBC One. 

Steven's career began with the landmark ITV children's drama Press Gang in 1989, for which he won his first Bafta. 

Coupling, the hugely popular and award-winning sitcom he created and wrote for BBC Two, began in 2000 and ran for four seasons.

Jekyll, his six-part thriller starring James Nesbitt and Michelle Ryan, transmitted on BBC One last year. 

Steven will continue as one of the directors on the board of Hartswood Films which produced Coupling and Jekyll, where he is also working on his new comedy Adam & Eve with wife Sue Vertue. 

He has just delivered the screenplay for Tintin – the first instalment of the trilogy of films featuring the iconic Belgian comic-strip hero – to Steven Spielberg who will direct it for DreamWorks. Thomas Sangster and Andy Serkis will star. 

Steven Moffat says: "My entire career has been a Secret Plan to get this job. I applied before but I got knocked back 'cos the BBC wanted someone else. Also I was seven. 

"Anyway, I'm glad the BBC has finally seen the light, and it's a huge honour to be following Russell into the best - and the toughest - job in television. I say toughest 'cos Russell's at my window right now, pointing and laughing." 

Lead Writer and Executive Producer Russell T Davies says: "It's been a delight and an honour working with Steven, and I can't wait to see where his extraordinary imagination takes the Doctor. Best of all, I get to be a viewer again, watching on a Saturday night!"

Jane Tranter, Controller, BBC Fiction, says: "Scripts and writers are at the heart of what BBC Drama is all about, and especially at the heart of Doctor Who. The past four series have been brilliantly helmed by the spectacularly talented Russell T Davies. 

"As Lead Writer and Executive Producer, he has overseen the creative direction and detail of the 21st century relaunch of Doctor Who and we are delighted to have his continued presence on the specials over the next 18 months. 

"But the challenge and excitement of the fifth series is now being handed to Steven Moffat. The Tardis couldn't be in safer hands. Steven's talents on both Doctor Who and beyond are well known. He is a writer of glittering brilliance, comedy and depth, with an extraordinary imagination and a unique voice. 

"Steven has a wonderful mix of being a committed Doctor Who fan and a true artist, and his plans for the next series are totally thrilling." 

The announcement follows the news that Piers Wenger will take over the role of Executive Producer from Julie Gardner on series five of Doctor Who. 

Piers Wenger says: "The challenge of taking Doctor Who to a new future is a huge and thrilling one and BBC Wales is blessed to have someone with Steven's extraordinary talent in charge. 

"His imagination and creativity have already given birth to some of the series' most unforgettable monsters though in this instance no-one need fear; time, space and the future of The Doctor are safe with him." 

Wenger and Moffat are already working closely together on the planning of the series. 

Menna Richards, Controller, BBC Wales, says: "BBC Wales is very proud of Doctor Who's phenomenal success. Steven Moffat is an extraordinary talent and we are very much looking forward to him joining the Doctor Who team." 

Series four has achieved some of the show's highest audience figures to date and forthcoming episodes feature a stellar line-up of guests including Lesley Sharp, Lindsey Coulson, Alex Kingston, Colin Salmon and Michael Brandon. 

Freema Agyeman and Billie Piper – The Doctor's two former companions – have also returned to assist The Doctor in series four. 

Doctor Who will return in 2009 with four specials, and the full-length fifth series is currently scheduled to be broadcast on BBC One in Spring 2010. 

SH

http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2008/05_may/20/who.shtml

[JackPeyton]

i really wanjt to get into Dr Who because i Billie Piper.. but i just cant.

[Sylph]

Jack, did you watch Coupling, British version?

[JackPeyton]

^Nope, why?

[Sylph]

The best show on Earth. Ever. Especially the episode when Susan discovers Steve's porn...  

As for Doctor Who, just discard the bad production values and occasional silliness and you'll start watching it regularly. (I think. ) 

[JackPeyton]

Sylph, this is me. jack Peyton. bad production values and occasional silliness do not phase me, hell i love soaps like that. I mean.. two of my fave shows ever as Spyder Games and Saved By The Bell, so...

idk why but i just cant get into dr who. the main guy annoys me and that may be why.

but i cant wait to see BP in The Secret Diary of a Call Girl

[detroitpiston]

I saw a little bit of Coupling when it was on BBC's PBS in Detroit. It was kinda funny. I'm thinking about getting the DVD's after I'm done adding to my 90210, MP, and Boondocks collections.

[Ben]

Bad production values! Are you serious? It's one of the very few English shows to actually have decent production values; I think this has more to do with it being co-produced with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, than anything else.

I'm glad Russell T. Davies is leaving. I don't particularly think he's that great a writer; every season opener that he's penned has fallen flat, IMO. This season has been one of the worst. I've only watched 2 full episodes... well, 3, if you count the Christmas one. And yesterday's, which was written by Steven Moffat, was awesome. He's brought back the creepiness, and moved away from the pre-teen demo that the BBC love to pander to.

Never got in to Coupling. It was always a our version of a poor man's Friends.

[Sylph]

It just looks so cheap. Compared to, say, supernatural, sci-fi US shows.

And with that dimming of contours and terrible lighting...

[Ben]

Don't you know, it's just not fair to compare a US and UK shows production values? It's like comparing Eastenders to Passions.

Dr. Who, really is, one of the better produced shows... which doesn't say much for the majority of our TV.

BTW: Do you guys get Waking the Dead on BBC America?

[Sylph]

Well, honestly, I'd say EastEnders looks a whole lot better than Passions!

I know. But I keep stuggling with the show every time I watch it.

What's that about?

[JackPeyton]

Dr Who does look cheap

and EE does look better than PASS

[Ben]

My bad, for not elaborating clearer. I meant that, comparing Eastenders and Passions, is something that can't be done, because they're opposites; much like the production values for UK & US shows. The budgets are just too different, and thus impossible to compare.

So I take you don't get Waking the Dead? Or is it that you've just never heard of it?

Waking the Dead is like Cold Case, without the gooey, sentimental-end-of-episode montages. It's been going for seven seasons, and sometimes has a CSI vibe about it. It's gritty and slick, well written and acted. It's even won an Emmy in 2004, for best Drama Series!

[Sylph]

I understood your point right after I hit Add Reply! But then didn't edit my message.

Maybe we do get it, I'd have to check, but I'm definitely not watching it!

So you really like the show? I can't understand the fact that you're comparing the cheap humour of Friends with Moffats Coupling.

P. S. Moffat is also writing Tintin for Spielberg to direct.

[Ben]

It's an awesome show. I only mention it, because you seem to have a varied taste, and seem to know quality when you see it (bar Dr. Who of course ).

Coupling was billed as our version of Friends; comparisons were made in the media. I tried watching, but I just couldn't get into it. I also saw the US version, which I thought was worse.

I used to *love* Tintin when I was a kid. How cute was Snowy? Moffat is a good writer, and like I said earlier, I really liked his writing for Dr. Who, just not so much, for Coupling. I think he'll do a good job on Tintin; and I just hope it'll resemble some form of what made the cartoon such a classic.