“I Fking Love What I Did!”: RTD Defends His Second Doctor Who Era After ‘Waves of Hatred’

Russell T Davies has reflected on the divisive reaction to his second era of Doctor Who, saying there have been “waves of hatred” towards the series while suggesting his work will become more appreciated in the years ahead.

Speaking in a recent interview with The Guardian, Davies was asked whether he had been personally wounded by the reaction to his latest run as showrunner.

“I’m not personally wounded by that,” Davies said. “I thought it was a shame.”

He admitted that the response had caused him to question some of his creative choices.

“And maybe I wonder if I should have done something different,” he said, before quickly dismissing the idea: “Except I f**king love what I did!”

Davies said that despite some of the fierce criticism directed towards his second era, he remains proud of the programmes he made.

“I work really hard on my shows, and I genuinely love them,” he said.

“I think there are waves of hatred, and maybe in a few years it’ll be more appreciated. But it’s appreciated by ME!”

Asked what he believes it will take to save Doctor Who, Davies pointed towards changes within the BBC itself.

“Part of the problem is that there seem to be spasms and ruptures and cuts at the BBC,” he said.

“My worry is that there’s nobody there to champion it.”

Davies believes the programme needs someone within the corporation persistently pushing for it.

“You need a producer saying: ‘What about Doctor Who? What about Doctor Who? What about Doctor Who?’ every single day,” he said.

“That’s gone.”

Davies also suggested that the next version of Doctor Who may need to rethink how it fits into the wider television landscape.

Looking back to the programme’s successful 2005 revival, Davies explained: “I made it exactly like a 9pm ITV drama, with a lot of the rhythms of everyday life.”

“That concept has gone now,” he said.

He even raised the possibility that the programme could eventually become a “vertical drama”, designed for smartphone viewing with frequent cliffhangers.

Whatever form it takes, Davies believes Doctor Who needs to reflect the television environment around it rather than simply trying to recreate what worked in the past.

“When it returns, it should be part of whatever the rest of telly is doing,” he said.

One thing Davies will not do is publicly nominate the next Doctor.

“I’ve made the mistake of saying so-and-so would be good,” he explained, “and the next thing you know, journalists are at their door.”