Russell T Davies returns to helm Doctor Who for 60th Anniversary and beyondBookmark and Share

Friday, 24 September 2021 - Reported by Chuck Foster
Russell T Davies to return as Doctor Who showrunner in 2023 (Credit: BBC)

The BBC have announced that Russell T Davies, the man behind the return of Doctor Who in 2005, is once again to take the helm of the television series for its 60th Anniversary and further series beyond.

As the first showwunner of Doctor Who, Davies's tenure saw the programme surge in popularity and win a number of accolades, and his departure in 2009 left a legacy which continues some sixteen years later!

Speaking of his return, Davies said:

I'm beyond excited to be back on my favourite show. But we're time-travelling too fast, there's a whole series of Jodie Whittaker's brilliant Doctor to me to enjoy, with my friend and hero Chris Chibnall at the helm - I'm still a viewer for now.

Chibnall says of Davie's return:

It's monumentally exciting and fitting that Doctor Who's 60th anniversary will see one of Britain's screenwriting diamonds return home. Russell built the baton that is about to be handed back to him - Doctor Who, the BBC, the screen industry in Wales, and let's be honest everyone in the whole world, have so many reasons to be Very Excited indeed about what lies ahead.

Piers Wenger, BBC Director of Drama said:

As the 13th Doctor prepares to embark on new and extraordinary adventures, the winds of change are blowing… bringing with them news to delight Doctor Who fans across the globe. We are thrilled that Russell is returning to Doctor Who to build on the huge achievements of Chris and Jodie. Thank you to the two of them and the team in Cardiff for all they continue to do for the show and hello Russell, it’s wonderful to have you back.

 

The show will be produced by BBC Studios in partnership with Bad Wolf, the production company created by Davies's former co-producer Julie Gardner and the former BBC Head of Drama, Jane Tranter. 





FILTER: - Doctor Who - Russell T Davies

Doctor Who Magazine: Issue 551Bookmark and Share

Thursday, 30 April 2020 - Reported by Marcus
Doctor Who Magazine Issue 551 (Credit: Panini)Doctor Who Magazine Issue 551 features former Doctor Who showrunners Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat who interview each other.
Steven, you know full well we’re always winging it
Issue 551 also includes:
  • Extended Production Notes from current showrunner Chris Chibnall.
  • Composer Segun Akinola reveals his inspirations for the Series 12 soundtrack.
  • In the first virtual Out of the TARDIS, Neil Gaiman answers questions from the TARDIS tin.
  • The Fact of Fiction explores 1984 classic The Caves of Androzani.
  • A tribute to the late David Collings (Revenge of the Cybermen, The Robots of Death, Mawdryn Undead), including extracts from a previously unpublished interview.
  • How Doctor Who fans around the world are staying connected during the lockdown.
  • A lockdown viewing guide to Doctor Who stories that are available on DVD and streaming services.
  • A look at Birth of a Renegade, a short Doctor Who story from the Radio Times 20th Anniversary Special.
  • A review of the Doctor Who: The Collection – Season 14 Blu-ray box set.
  • Time and Space Visualiser presents a lockdown special, with contributions from former Doctors and companions.
  • Public Image presents a full round-up of how Series 12 performed in the ratings.
  • Part Three of The Piggybackers, a new comic-strip adventure featuring the Thirteenth Doctor and her friends.
  • Big Finish previews and reviews, news, prize-winning competitions, The Blogs of Doom and much more!
Doctor Who Magazine Issue 551 is on sale from Thursday 30 April 2020 price £5.99 (UK)




FILTER: - DWM - Russell T Davies - Steven Moffat

Farewell, Sarah Jane. - New Mini Episode Released SundayBookmark and Share

Saturday, 18 April 2020 - Reported by Marcus
Farewell, Sarah Jane (Credit: BBC)A brand new conclusion to The Sarah Jane Adventures, Farewell Sarah Jane, has been written by series creator Russell T Davies and will be released on Sunday.

The episode will be released at 5pm on the BBC Doctor Who YouTube, Facebook, Twitter & Instagram accounts. Later that evening the latest #DoctorWhoLockdown event will be a rewatch of the final two episodes of Series Four The Stolen Earth and Journey's End. Fans around the world will simultaneously watch the episodes along with twitter commentary from Russell T Davies, David Tennant, Catherine Tate, Freema Agyeman, John Barrowman and director Grahame Harper.

The Sarah Jane Adventures ended in 2011 after the death of Elisabeth Sladen, who first appeared alongside Jon Pertwee in 1973. The mini episode was made with the support of Sladen's family.

#DoctorWhoLockdown is organised by Emily Cook of Doctor Who Magazine. It's aim is to bring fans around the world together during the current lockdown through their shared love of Doctor Who.




FILTER: - Russell T Davies - Sarah Jane

Rose: The SequelBookmark and Share

Thursday, 26 March 2020 - Reported by Marcus
A sequel to Doctor Who: Rose, written by Russell T Davies, has now been released, celebrating 15 years since the transmission of the episode.

DOCTOR WHO: Revenge of the Nestene




FILTER: - Russell T Davies - Series 1/27

Rose #TripOfALifetimeBookmark and Share

Thursday, 26 March 2020 - Reported by Marcus
Rose #TripofaLifetime (Credit: BBC Studios)Fans around the world will be marking fifteen years since the original transmission of Rose at 7pm UK time today.

The episode was the first Doctor Who adventure for the Ninth Doctor and the first written by Russell T Davies. It was originally shown at 7pm on Saturday 26th March 2005.

The idea comes from Emily Cook of Doctor Who Magazine and follows a similar project where fans watched The Day of the Doctor last weekend.

Former show runner Russell T Davies will be live Tweeting the episode, and has written a prequel, available on the BBC Doctor Who Website. A sequel will be revealed at 7.45pm.

Viewers in the UK can watch on : And in the US on Or watch along on your DVD/Blu-ray and follow the #TripOfALifetime

Doctor Who rewatch- Rose introduction, 2020




FILTER: - Ninth Doctor - Russell T Davies - Series 1/27

New Target NovalisationsBookmark and Share

Friday, 23 February 2018 - Reported by Marcus
The BBC has announced the first Target novelisations of episodes from the revived post-2005 series of Doctor Who.

Both former showrunners, Russell T Davies and Steven Moffat, will be writing novelisations of their own episodes to be published by BBC Books, under the Target imprint, to be published on the 5th April 2018.

The series will also see the first Target novelisation of a Douglas Adams story.

In the 1970's and 1980's Target books were published for most Doctor Who stories, and were the only way most fans of the series could relive the television adventures. Many came to the series through the novelisations, often written by the original script writer.

Rose (Credit: BBC Books)ROSE
RUSSELL T DAVIES


In a lair somewhere beneath central London, a malevolent alien intelligence is plotting the end of humanity. Shop window dummies that can move – and kill – are taking up key positions, ready to strike. Rose Tyler, an ordinary Londoner, is working her shift in a department store, unaware that this is the most important day of her life. She’s about to meet the only man who understands the true nature of the threat facing Earth, a stranger who will open her eyes to all the wonder and terror of the universe – a traveller in time and space known as the Doctor.



Russell T Davies is one of the UK's foremost writers of television drama, creating ground breaking shows such as Queer as Folk, Bob & Rose, Casanova, Cucumber, The Second Coming, and in 2018, A Very English Scandal for BBC One.

He was Head Writer and Executive Producer of Doctor Who when it returned to the BBC in 2005 and has written many of the new series' most memorable episodes. He was awarded an OBE in 2008 for services to drama. He divides his time between Cardiff and Manchester.
The Day of the Doctor (Credit: BBC Books)THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR
STEVEN MOFFAT


The Tenth Doctor is hunting shape-shifting Zygons in Elizabethan England. The Eleventh is investigating a rift in space-time in the present day. And one other – the man they used to be but never speak of – is fighting the Daleks in the darkest days of the Time War. Driven by demons and despair, this battle-scarred Doctor is set to take a devastating decision that will threaten the survival of the entire universe … a decision that not even a Time Lord can take alone.

On this day, the Doctor’s different incarnations will come together to save the Earth … to save the universe … and to save his soul.



Steven Moffat is best known for Press Gang, Coupling, Steven Spielberg’s movie Tintin, and for the last few years being lead writer and executive producer on Doctor Who and for cocreating, co-writing (with Mark Gatiss) and executive producing Sherlock. He has 5 BAFTAs, 2 Emmys and in 2015 was awarded an OBE for services to drama.
The Christmas Invasion (Credit: BBC Books)THE CHRISTMAS INVASION
JENNY T COLGAN


When a British space probe is intercepted by a sinister alien vessel on the eve of Christmas, it marks the beginning of an audacious invasion of the Earth by the Sycorax – horrifying marauders from beyond the stars. Within hours, a third of humanity stands on the brink of death with not a single shot fired.

Our planet needs a champion – but the Doctor is not fit for service. He’s just regenerated, delirious in a new body and a dressing gown. Forced into his battered shoes is his friend, Rose Tyler, a girl from a London council estate. Will she save the world from this nightmare before Christmas – or see it destroyed?



Jenny T Colgan has written 16 bestselling novels as Jenny Colgan, which have sold over 2.5 million copies worldwide, been translated into 25 languages, and won both the Melissa Nathan Award and Romantic Novel of the Year 2013. Aged 11, she won a national fan competition to meet the Doctor and was mistaken for a boy by Peter Davison
TWICE UPON A TIME
PAUL CORNELL


Still reeling from his encounter with the Cybermen, the First Doctor stumbles through the bitter Antarctic wind, resisting the approaching regeneration with all his strength. But as he fights his way through the snowdrifts, he comes across the familiar shape of a blue police box, and a mysterious figure who introduces himself as the Doctor …

Thrown together at their most vulnerable moments, the two Doctors must discover why the snowflakes are suspended in the sky, why a First World War Captain has been lifted from his time stream moments before his death, and who is the mysterious Glass Woman who knows their true name. The Doctor is reunited with Bill, but is she all she seems? And can he hold out against the coming regeneration?



Paul Cornell has written some of Doctor Who's best-loved TV episodes, books and comics. He’s also worked on many other TV shows. His other comics projects include his creator-owned series Saucer State and This Damned Band, and runs on Action Comics, Batman and Robin and Wolverine. He's also the author of the Lychford series of fantasy novellas and the Shadow Police novels. He’s won the British Science Fiction Association Award for his short fiction and the Eagle Award for his comics
CITY OF DEATH
JAMES GOSS


Visiting Paris in 1979, the Doctor and Romana’s hopes for a holiday are soon shattered by armed thugs, a suave and dangerous Count, a plot to steal the Mona Lisa and a world-threatening experiment with time.

Teaming up with a British detective, the Time Lords discover that a ruthless alien plot hatched in Earth’s pre-history has reached its final stage. If Scaroth, last of the Jagaroth, cannot be stopped then the human race is history, along with all life on Earth …



James Goss has adapted three Doctor Who stories by Douglas Adams for BBC Books (City of Death, The Pirate Planet, and The Krikkitmen) and has also written several original Doctor Who and Torchwood books. His novel #Haterz is in development as a motion picture. He's also written for the stage and the radio.




FILTER: - BBC Books - Russell T Davies - Steven Moffat

Bid for Lunch with Russell T DaviesBookmark and Share

Monday, 4 December 2017 - Reported by Marcus
Gaydio, the UK’s LGBT radio station, is offering the chance to have lunch with former Doctor Who Show Runner Russell T Davies.

The oppotunity is being offered in aid of the Terrence Higgins Trust #SeeRed appeal for World AIDS Day.

The winner has the chance to meet Davies at a central Manchester Restaurant for lunch. They will get an hour with the screenwriter and television producer whose works also include Queer as Folk, Bob & Rose, The Second Coming, Casanova, and the trilogy Cucumber, Tofu and Banana.

The location for this will be Australasia in Manchester and includes your meal on a mutually agreed date before the end of March 2018 Full details including Terms and Conditions via the auction website.




FILTER: - Auctions - Russell T Davies

Russell T Davies Given Lifetime Achievement AwardBookmark and Share

Friday, 25 August 2017 - Reported by Marcus
Former Doctor Who Showrunner Russell T Davies has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement award at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.

The writer, whose hits include Queer As Folk, Casanova and Cucumber as well as being the man who brought Doctor Who back to BBC One, used his speech to defend the BBC which he said was being treated with contempt by the current UK Government.
We actually have a government which is warding off the BBC with one hand while xxxxing off Rupert Murdoch with the other.
Davies went on to say how important it was to tell the young people watching that working in Television was great fun and that it was a brilliant industry.
I have worked with Daleks, Casanova, I’ve worked with gays, I’ve worked with Penelope Wilton, I worked on children’s programmes, I’ve worked in documentary, I worked on a quiz show with Terry Wogan, I worked with Jesus, I worked in Cardiff, Manchester, at Granada, I’ve worked with all sorts of shows, I’ve worked with David Tennant, Billie Piper, Freema Agyeman, I’m so lucky.

I’ve been a presenter on Playschool, I’ve actually been to Norway with Keith Chegwin, I love my job and I hope you all grow up and get in the industry and love the job too.
At the TV festival, BBC One was named channel of the year.




FILTER: - Awards/Nominations - Russell T Davies

Now We Are Six HundredBookmark and Share

Thursday, 18 May 2017 - Reported by Chuck Foster
BBC Books have announced a new hardback book for the summer to tie in with National Poetry Day:

Now We Are Six Hundred (Credit: BBC Books)BBC Books Publishing Director Albert DePetrillo has acquired Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred, the very first collection of Time Lord verse. BBC Books have world rights, with North American rights sold to HarperCollins.

A gentle and humorous riff on the classic Now We Are Six, this is a collection of charming, funny and whimsical poems that celebrate the joys, sorrows and wonders of Time Lord life. Written by author James Goss, the book features illustrations by former Doctor Who Executive Producer Russell T Davies – his first role as an illustrator, using the comic artist skills he developed in his youth.

Albert DePetrillo says:
This is a book I’ve long wanted to publish, and James and Russell have realised the idea brilliantly, well beyond anything I’d hoped. It’s something very special, a unique gift for every Doctor Who fan. For full effect, please be sure to read these poems aloud to your friends, preferably more than once.
James Goss says:
BBC Books have carefully baited an irresistible trap to lure people into reading poetry. Russell's beautiful illustrations make this the most charming Doctor Who book there's ever been (and I'm including that magical first Doctor Who book you discovered as a child). The poems have been a delight to work on. Who could resist retelling the fiendish Daleks’ Masterplan in verse, or finding bizarre and ludicrous rhymes for monster names?
Russell T Davies says:
I’ve been drawing for Doctor Who long before I was writing it, so it was like time-travel for me, voyaging back to that young scribbler who used to cover his school desk with Daleks!

Doctor Who: Now We Are Six Hundred will be published in hardback on 14th September, two weeks before National Poetry Day on 28th September.




FILTER: - BBC Books - Books - Merchandise - Russell T Davies

Russell T Davies defends the BBCBookmark and Share

Friday, 25 September 2015 - Reported by Marcus
Russell T Davis with Alison Graham at the Radio Times Festival (Credit: Maggie Gibbons) Russell T Davies has made a strong defence of the BBC and the licence fee and the values it stands for, but warned the battle may already be lost.

Speaking at the Radio Times Festival, he urged people to consider the alternatives to the compulsory licence fee, such as a subscription model and to look at the schedules of current subscriber services such as the American premium cable network HBO and see what subscribers get for their money. He said: "couple of high class dramas. No news. No soaps.no weather, no radio stations. Google their schedules and see if that is what you want?"

Davies was being interviewed by Alison Graham for the first ever Radio Times Festival, which is being held at Hampton Court in West London. He said his favourite memory of working on Doctor Who was the laughter he had. "It was hard work but we did have fun". He revealed he most enjoyed writing dialogue for Daleks. "They are so clever. I love them".

He also spoke of how proud he was of Doctor Who. "It's indestructible. Imagine if they tried to cancel it now. There would be riots in the streets".

Speaking on writing for the Doctor: "you get the secret of writing for the Doctor when you realise he is much cleverer than you are. Then it falls into place".

He talked about how he started in the industry and advised aspiring writers to just write. "get all the experience you can, not necessarily on your pet project but say for your local youth theatre".

He talked about his current project, a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream for the BBC. "It's something I've always wanted to do, he told the audience. It has a fantastic cast, and the whole play finishes with a joyous dance choreographed by Arlene Phillips. It's going to be on Saturday night in prime time. Only the BBC would do that".

Davies finished the session by talking to fans and signing autographs.

(Maggie Gibbons for the photo)




FILTER: - BBC - Radio Times - Russell T Davies - Special Events