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Davies, Russell T

Entry updated 15 May 2023. Tagged: Author.

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(1963-    ) UK television producer, scriptwriter, and author, born Stephen Russell Davies, who added the middle initial to his name to distinguish himself from the UK writer and television figure Russell Davies (also born in Wales). He began his career with the BBC in the 1980s, writing two sf serials for the Young Adult market, Dark Season (1991 6parts), featuring a young Kate Winslet (1975-    ) in the story of a plot to rule the world through advanced children governed by a Computer wizard, which he novelized as Dark Season (1991); and Century Falls (1993 6parts) about a town foolishly in thrall to a demon named Century. A more recent television fantasy was The Second Coming (2003 2parts); but his later career has been dominated by the Doctor Who enterprise, culminating in his work as executive producer for the revival of the series as Doctor Who (2005-2008), producing all 56 episodes, and actually scripting 26 of them. Given also his role in founding the Doctor Who spin-offs Torchwood (2006-2011) and The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007-2011), it could be argued that Davies is the most prominent science fiction author in the UK today. His work on all these series has been criticized for sometimes privileging spectacle over coherence – especially when compared to the work of writers like Paul Cornell or Steven Moffat – but his instincts for how to invest the show with emotional force are unparalleled in its history, and its huge popular success is unarguable. His decision in 2008 to step down from his Doctor Who role seems likely to take him away from science fiction.

Davies was awarded the OBE in June 2008. [JC/GS]

Russell T Davies OBE

born Swansea, Wales: 27 April 1963

works

series

Doctor Who

nonfiction

non Doctor Who titles

  • Dark Season (London: BBC Books, 1991) [tie to the television story: pb/]

links

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