Talk:Russell T Davies

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Contents

[edit] Sightings

I swear I saw him today in Swansea, boarding a train heading towards Manchester (presumably he would get off at Cardiff). He was wearing a black suit and mirrored black sunglasses, and he had no-one with him. It took me twenty minutes to verify who he was and decide not to bug him. Good thing, too - before I got off the train at my hometown of Neath, it looked like he'd fallen asleep. Interesting. Anyone else ever seen the man in public?

Yes, I once saw the man himself in a Greggs baker in Devon. He was arguing with staff about a pasty he had just bought and was apparently unsatisfactory. The girl behind the counter looked like she was going to cry when Davies said he was going to get her sacked :-(
I never thought I'd see him effing and blinding like that but apparently he has an awful temper. I've heard that among his friends his legendary temper tantrums are lovingly referred to as "holocausts".

[edit] Middle Initial

Should this be Russell T Davies instead? In all the credits for him I've seen he's credited without the period after the T, since the T doesn't really stand for anything... --khaosworks 06:14, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Probably no ".", though I note on the The End of the World article you amended Russel T Davies to Russel T. Davies in one of the notes :) --TimPope 08:59, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)
That was just to keep the link consistent, really... --khaosworks 09:22, 24 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Yes, it probably should be moved - I think it's just the depressing prospect of all those links to change that's stopped anybody doing it before! Angmering 11:48, 16 May 2005 (UTC)
I have found manuscripts that unequivically prove that the entirety of the name Russell T Davies is a pseudonym. In a 1996 interview he states the rationale behind the name was "I'm a retard. I'm a retard without an EAR [Russell does in fact only have one ear - the other is prosthetic]. Retard - ear = RTD." He extrapolated the name from there. You can use this information for free (fair use dawg)


[edit] Categories?

I notice RTD is listed under Category:Doctor Who writers; does he also merit inclusion in Category:Doctor Who producers, as he is THE producer of the new series? Or is that 'to many categories'? Radagast 18:23, Jun 10, 2005 (UTC)

Good point, I added to him to that Cat. --TimPope 19:01, 10 Jun 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Education?

Would it be too much detail to mention that he was educated at Olchfa Comprehensive School in Swansea, prior to his university education at Oxford? --EdB 22:53, 12 July 2005 (BST)

I don't think so - I've added it to the piece. :-) Angmering 10:52, 5 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Sexuality

There is no need to mention his sexuality in the opening intro. In fact, there is no need to mention it at all unless it appears in a 'Personal life' section. Removed.

I agree there doesn't seem to be any need to mention it in the lead, but I dispute there'd be no need to mention it otherwise. His sexuality has had an important impact on his career, as he himself discussed in his 2003 Guardian article "Transmission was madness, honestly". Angmering 19:05, 6 April 2006 (UTC)
I was a little surprised to find that it wasn't mentioned at all in the article. I agree that it's in poor taste to put a kind of "look! He's gay!" mention in the opening paragraph, but it is relevant to his work. Queer as Folk is regarded as groundbreaking, he introduced the first more-or-less openly bisexual character to Doctor Who, and in an interview I read somewhere he mentions that even one of his children's programmes hinted that the series' evil genius was a lesbian. Whether he's straight or gay is important in analysing this. I would have added it myself, but there was no obvious place to neatly insert it and I don't feel like making a more substantial edit at the moment. PeteVerdon 20:58, 16 April 2006 (UTC)
The interview you're thinking of (actually an article) is the very one linked to above. :-) Angmering 09:24, 17 April 2006 (UTC)
For the record, Russell T. Davies is not the first gay producer of Doctor Who. The late John Nathan-Turner was producer for the show's last ten years; however, it must be noted that his lifestyle never became a subject of discussion, nor did it affect his leadership of the show. Russell T. Davies, on the other hand, has radically altered the 'family show' aspects of Doctor Who to the point where some fans might not be comfortable with either of his new series. While most of his Doctor Who stories do not actually push this envelope, the character of Captain Jack Harkness has provoked concern from some fans, especially in the United States. I suppose the climate is different with the BBC now, because twenty years ago, John Nathan-Turner would have probably lost his job! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by J Leatherwood (talk • contribs) 16:08, June 8, 2006 (UTC)
I suspect that the differences you refer to are less a reflection of a change in the BBC as such than a change in the general attitudes of the British public, and views of what is acceptable family viewing. When John Nathan-Turner was Doctor Who's producer, I think the only discussion of homosexuality on British television was in "worthy" serious dramas. That isn't the case any more, and the lack of response (in Britain, at least) to the occasional gay allusions in Davies' Doctor Who shows that audience expectations have changed. I don't think that Davies has really "radically altered the 'family show' aspects of Doctor Who" — it's just that what a family show is in 2005 or 2006 is different from what it was in the 1980s.
Two more thoughts: first, from a recent interview with John Barrowman:
I did a Doctor Who convention, and I was sitting at a table, and this young boy came up to me and his Dad was with him. I said “How would you like me to sign your picture?” and he said “However you want”, so I said “I always put ‘Love, John Barrowman' - then, you know, ‘Captain Jack', at the bottom.”
And he said — can I tell you something — he said “I don't care if Captain Jack likes boys and girls. I think he's a great action hero, and he's my hero.” And his Dad looked at me, and I looked up at his Dad, and I said, “You know what, you did a damn good job raising that kid.”
And second, from a New York Times article about the series' revival, a quote from Steven Moffat:
"You come across the occasional nutter who will talk about Russell's gay agenda — I imagine he keeps it in a pink folder in a special leopardskin safe — but this is possibly the most heterosexual Doctor we've ever had," Mr. Moffat said. "Clearly, Russell's gay agenda is to turn everyone straight."
—Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 20:00, 10 June 2006 (UTC)
This guy must not have seen Torchwood - where, improbably and ridiculously, everything is gay or bisexual. Big Gay Russell's Big Gay Agenda is real. 70.49.241.140 13:09, 16 June 2007 (UTC)

I've added a "personal life" section for mention of his partner. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 18:11, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] BAFTAs

Technically, the Dennis Potter award is given to a writer for his body of work, rather than one series. Even if the Academy were only taking the past year into account, Casanova would also have been an influence in their decision.

I suspect that the reference to the award would more properly belong outside the DW block in this entry, for that reason. However, right now I think moving it could hamper article readability. Maybe we should revisit this once the general public have had a chance to view the awards ceremony (due to air on ITV1 on May 8, 2006). -- Smatthewman 10:59, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

I stand corrected. (I had added it to the Doctor Who section before noticing that it had already been mentioned further down the page; I then removed the later mention.) I'll go with whatever placement people think is best. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 20:22, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] MGM

I couldn't find the original citation for this:

In an April 2006 interview, Davies referred to his next project after Doctor Who and Torchwood as "MGM (More Gay Men)". This will revisit some of the themes of Queer as Folk, but "a bit more 40-year-old".[citation needed]

But I did find other references to the project, and have put a different mention with citation in. If anyone remembers where this particular quote came from, please let us know and it can be put back in the article. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 17:37, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Never mind— it was from the same Independent piece that called him "the saviour of Saturday night drama". I just had to pay for the full article to get to that bit... —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 18:04, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] POV

The main article comes across as shockingly POV. Rather than maintaining a balanced, neutral stance (as Wikipedia articles are intended to) it merely gushes on about Davies as if he can do no wrong. Davies might be one of the more prominent writers on British television at the moment, but he has also been one of the most heavily criticised as well. He was hugely criticised for negative stereotyping in QAF, and again with Bob & Rose, Doctor Who has been a ratings success but has also been derided as juvenile rubbish by some, and as for Torchwood....

I've addressed some of these issues, but perhaps there should probably be a separate "Criticisms" section to show a more balanced view. There's nothing wrong with listing Davies' achievements, as long as we list his failures and flaws as a writer as well. Please note peeps, this is not a RTD fanpage. MassassiUK 07:15, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

I found that Damaged Goods, though a well laid out article, seems to have about 10 times more content on his use of themes (though some of it smacks of trivia than genuine themes), how he came to write the book and critics reaction than it does on the contents of the plot. So long as you have appropriate sources for critcisms you should have no trouble. GraemeLeggett 10:54, 28 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Torchwood

I have to question this article's negative assessment of Torchwood. 2 early, negative, critical responses have been given as sources.

The Torchwood article itself quotes a broader range of sources, which give a more mixed picture, and should also be quote here for balance. Queer as Folk was also initially panned by the critics, who were singing it praises by the end of it's run. Torchwood is one of Davies more daring projects, that (due to it's subject matter) would never have the mass family appeal of Dr. Who. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but it's not meant to be. Need to be less POV here. Indisciplined 23:50, 3 January 2007 (UTC)

I agree, also the "despite the drop in ratings" comment gives the impression that the show later underperformed when it did not and simply went from getting pretty fantastic ratings at first to getting "pretty good" ratings. According to sources I've read the ratings for Torchwood generally out performed other multi-channel/digital offerings other than some episodes of Lost and The Hogfather. The Appreciation Indexes for Torchwood have been largely good, it often getting close to the and occasionally hitting 85 (excellent) mark on BBC Three, of course AI is effected by BBC Three and Two having smaller (and therefore more likely to be made up of mostly fans) audiences but it still shouldn't be sniffed at. If it have been doing poorly it would be regularly be scoring closer to the 60 mark. OG's Torchwood News page has summaries of all the series ratings.[1] --GracieLizzie 23:53, 14 January 2007 (UTC)
Agreed. Will fix both. Jim 16:31, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

The Appreciation Index isnt really a relevant source to mention here as, like you said, it will be made up mostly of fans. Torchwood was indeed struggling ratings-wise later into its first season (one episode barely even scratched 2 million, and that was with all three screenings added together - which is poor for a series that cost and was promoted this much). As for quoting the "two early, negative, critical responses" as sources - I'm afraid that they are still valid criticisms whether you agree with them or not. I dont actually recall the series gaining higher praise as the series went on, in fact it was quite the opposite - and this was reflected in the declining ratings. I agree that the POV of the article needs to be as neutral as possible, but that means highlighting the flaws as well as the successes, otherwise it will read like an RTD fan page and never be taken seriously.


[edit] Re-ordering

I think it's a bit odd to have Queer as Folk, Second Coming then Doctor Who then Casanova and Mine All Mine. Surely it would make far greater sense to do the ordering chronologically, with a small future work section after Doctor Who? HornetMike 01:19, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Interracial Coupling Theme

In the course of Dr. Who, we see a lot of interracial couples. Besides the obvious examples of Mickey and Rose, and the (debatable) flirtations between the Doctor and Martha, there have also been a number of smaller instances (e.g. Catherine Tate's engagement in "The Runaway Bride", Martha's father in season 3, "The Attack of the Graske" short). Is this theme of interracial romance present in his earlier work? -- 24.126.136.115 09:36, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Photograph

The photograph on this page is very odd. It is not of Davies, and refers to some evidently "in joke" to which most readers are not privy. Rachel Pearce 10:58, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. It's completely baffling. Pawnkingthree 11:22, 14 November 2007 (UTC)
The only other contributions of the person who added the photo appear to be writing nonsense on this talk page, so I've decided to remove it. Pawnkingthree 11:34, 14 November 2007 (UTC)
I'm offended that you think I'm talking nonsense. The photo is of the reaction on set to a joke Davies made concerning three Japanese tourists and their inability to order fish and chips. It was a rip-roaring success as I think you can see that in the picture. I think it's an appropriate photo as it reflects Russ's personality rather than his physical appearance. Which, I think, as a writer, he would appreciate as his craft lies in his imagination living through the works of fine actors such as Tennant and Piper. This is why I added the picture, it's a true representation of T Dawg, as I like to think of him, and anything else would be a false idol.--EGGBORT (talk) 02:27, 24 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Groundbreaking?

This is one of those words that is so often misused and really is just a matter of opinion. To this day I cannot personally see how QAF is considered "groundbreaking" as we had already seen similar themes in other programmes, particularly the two Channel 4 "Tales Of The City" serials that were made before it.79.66.29.159 (talk) 22:40, 23 February 2008 (UTC)