Russell T Davies to leave Doctor Who

Russell T Davies, the writer of most of the worst episodes of the Doctor Who revival, but the man credited with bringing it back, is to leave the series after the 2009 specials. Series five will be helmed by Steven Moffat, who wrote numerous standout episodes such as The Empty Child, The Girl In The Fireplace and the absolute highlight Blink.

The BBC have the full story, of course.

13 replies on “Russell T Davies to leave Doctor Who”

  1. torchwood?
    There’s no mention of Torchwood. Isn’t that Russell T Davies’ pet project?

    I’m glad Steven Moffat is taking over. He’s written some brilliant episodes. I never thought I’d say this but Catherine Tate is growing on me!

    • Re: torchwood?
      Favorite Moffat quote: ""I applied before but I got knocked back ‘cos the BBC wanted someone else. Also I was seven."

  2. Take A Look At Blink
    I am not and never have been a Dr. Who fan. I had not even ever seen a complete episode. It just seemed – silly.

    Then last year I spent four months in Denver working on an aerospace project and took an old TiVo with me to hook up in my apartment. It picked up as a TiVo choice the Dr. Who episode Blink. Far from the distractions of home, nothing to do late one night, I said what the heck and started watching.

    I had tears running down my cheeks by the end of Blink. The only time that’s ever happened to me before was the ST:NG ep The Inner Light . I watched a few of the new Dr. Who eps after that to try and see if that magic was always there. Nope, Dr. Who is still silly.

    But that Blink episode is a one-off tangent story that is sheer magic. Do whatever you must to see it. It’s so good I’m not even going to link to the Wikipedia article which gives away the plot without being able to capture its emotion. (Oh, all right, here it is, but you’re a fool if you read one word the Wikipedia article before seeing the actual episode itself). Instead, here’s the written short story that inspired Blink – pretty good on its own, but still a step or two away from the masterpiece it ultimately became.

    Take a look at Blink.

    • Re: Take A Look At Blink

      I had tears running down my cheeks by the end of Blink. The only time that’s ever happened to me before was the ST:NG ep The Inner Light . I watched a few of the new Dr. Who eps after that to try and see if that magic was always there. Nope, Dr. Who is still silly.

      Check out The Girl in the Fireplace, as it says above, it’s also extraordinary.

      But yes, a lot of the Doctors’ activities include silly antics, or silly monsters. And I love it.

      Oh, and the episode with the evil fat guy with a cane? I forget the name of the ep, anyone care to help me? It was, IMHO, a similar vibe to Blink (it mostly involved someone other than the Doctor). Fat guy? Cane? Morphic field? Anyone?

      • Re: Take A Look At Blink

        Oh, and the episode with the evil fat guy with a cane? I forget the name of the ep, anyone care to help me? It was, IMHO, a similar vibe to Blink (it mostly involved someone other than the Doctor). Fat guy? Cane? Morphic field? Anyone?

        That would be Love & Monsters, one of my absolute favourites of the new series (that dirty joke at the end notwithstanding).

      • Re: Take A Look At Blink

        But yes, a lot of the Doctors’ activities include silly antics, or silly monsters. And I love it.

        Which is totally cool. Silly has its role to play in the world of SF entertainment. And I have very high respect for Dr. Who as having great depth, a historically loyal fanbase, and remarkable acting. It’s just not my cup o tea.

        I’ve been trying to figure out what Blink and Inner Light have in common that’s so very moving while thousands of other eps glide past my eyeballs and elicit no tears. Here’s what I’ve come up with. Both Blink and Inner Light distill the steady drip drip drip of destructive erosion that time has on our lives which we never notice on a day to day basis, and from that distillation comes a glimpse of the true meaning of death. We spend our lives ignoring death as best we can. Our SF (and other genere too) entertainment is filled with death-that-is-not-death of a million impossible close calls in the final act, and Reapers, season after season of Six Feet Under, and I see dead people, and glowing Obi-Wans, and Galactica cancer patients that see the other side, and talking to the dead in ways both figurative and literal, and time travel loops to set everything right and save the day, and every other gimmick our imaginative minds can dream up including a Heaven full of 70 virgins or Jesus, take your pick.

        And death isn’t like that. It’s final. F. I. N. A. L.

        And rare eps like Blink and Inner Light that are able to hint at the implications of such finality are so uncommon that they are deeply moving. And even disturbing, as they should be.

        That, and the fact that TiVo can click thru the commercials to allow the dramatic tension to continue uninterrupted. I love my TiVo.

        • Re: Take A Look At Blink

          Both Blink and Inner Light distill the steady drip drip drip of destructive erosion that time has on our lives which we never notice on a day to day basis, and from that distillation comes a glimpse of the true meaning of death. We spend our lives ignoring death as best we can. Our SF (and other genere too) entertainment is filled with death-that-is-not-death of a million impossible close calls in the final act, and Reapers, season after season of Six Feet Under…

          Upon further reflection, the final six minutes of the Six Feet under finale also has this dramatic flavor, too. I teared up pretty badly when I saw it. But then, my mom comitted suicide and I have some pretty bad lingering child custody issues from my first marriage, so I’m probably abnormally sensitive to depictions like this. YMMV.

      • Re: Take A Look At Blink

        I had tears running down my cheeks by the end of Blink. The only time that’s ever happened to me before was the ST:NG ep The Inner Light . I watched a few of the new Dr. Who eps after that to try and see if that magic was always there. Nope, Dr. Who is still silly.

        Check out The Girl in the Fireplace, as it says above, it’s also extraordinary.

        But yes, a lot of the Doctors’ activities include silly antics, or silly monsters. And I love it.

        Oh, and the episode with the evil fat guy with a cane? I forget the name of the ep, anyone care to help me? It was, IMHO, a similar vibe to Blink (it mostly involved someone other than the Doctor). Fat guy? Cane? Morphic field? Anyone?

        Yeah, it had a similar vibe to blink, but is in fact, the worst episode of the new series where Blink is one of the best.

    • Re: Take A Look At Blink

      I am not and never have been a Dr. Who fan. I had not even ever seen a complete episode. It just seemed – silly.

      Take a look at Blink.

      Indeed, I see it as a basically stupid series for children, only kept alive by the main actors being good and helpings of fun – I don’t even consider it a credible scifi series – however Blink is a great episode I agree, it has pieces of nonsense as well but the overall is a thumbs up – as just about the only episode of the series

      • Re: Take A Look At Blink
        Blink was also one of a very few episodes of anything that I’ve seen to really use time travel. Not just "oh, let’s go to the future and see cool junk" or "you broke the timeline!" This was a real, honest, intelligent use of the concept of a time traveller. It’s my favorite episode of this series, by far. Except the statues creep me the hell out so I can’t watch it again. :S

  3. Don’t forget
    Russell T Davies is the exeuctive producer, he tells the others what to write. I doubt the series will be much "better" from my point of view after he leaves, but perhaps there will be less gay references *G*

    • Re: Don’t forget

      Russell T Davies is the exeuctive producer, he tells the others what to write. I doubt the series will be much "better" from my point of view after he leaves, but perhaps there will be less gay references *G*

      No, RTD also wrote a lot of the episodes. My hope is the religious overtones ("Last of the Time Lords" – puh-leez!) that he’s shoveled on in the last few seasons will vanish.

      My one-word summation of this news: fanTAStic! :-D

      • Re: Don’t forget

        Russell T Davies is the exeuctive producer, he tells the others what to write. I doubt the series will be much "better" from my point of view after he leaves, but perhaps there will be less gay references *G*

        No, RTD also wrote a lot of the episodes. My hope is the religious overtones ("Last of the Time Lords" – puh-leez!) that he’s shoveled on in the last few seasons will vanish.

        My one-word summation of this news: fanTAStic! :-D

        I don’t mind the "Last of the Time Lords" stuff as much as I mind the romantic overtones with his companions. I’d much rather see that go by the wayside.

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