Will Russell T Davies Ever Return To Write Doctor Who?
This article is more than 2 years old
It’s been nearly a decade since Russell T Davies resurrected the British cult hit Doctor Who. Since the premiere of “Rose” on March 26, 2005, we’ve been through five Doctors (counting the War Doctor), numerous companions, and eight seasons of adventures through all of time and space. In 2010, both Davies and actor David Tennant wrapped up their run on Doctor Who, making way for incoming Eleventh Doctor Matt Smith and new showrunner Steven Moffat. Having been instrumental in introducing Doctor Who to a whole new generation, will Davies ever return to the TARDIS, perhaps to write an episode or two in a future season? According to the man himself, we probably shouldn’t hold our collective breath.
Davies recently told the Radio Times that a BBC representative had approached him about the possibility of doing something to mark the 10th anniversary of the modern Who reboot this coming March, but he declined. The reporter then followed up by asking if he would ever consider writing another episode of Who. From the sound of things, he could if he wanted to…but he doesn’t appear to want to. Davies said:
Wouldn’t that be nice? The lovely Steven [Moffat] invites me every year to come and write one. And I love him and I love them and I love watching it, but here I am, moving on. I love Doctor Who with all my heart but nothing is more important to me than my own stuff.
It’s not entirely surprising that Davies would decide to let his work speak for itself and focus on new projects. In addition to overseeing four seasons of modern Who, he also created the Torchwood and Sarah Jane Adventures spinoffs. The former ran for four seasons, culminating in the BBC/Starz coproduction Miracle Day, and the latter for five seasons. All told, that’s a lot of time spent playing in the same sandbox. Still, Davies did concede that he probably had a few more Who stories in him, whether or not he ever chooses to pursue them. “I made 60 episodes and did 40 Torchwoods and 40 Sarah Janes,” said Davies, “and there are an awful lot of ways to destroy the world in there.”
As for Davies post-Who career, he went on to create the British kids’ show Wizards vs. Aliens in 2012 and is currently working on the upcoming Channel 4 series Cucumber, which explores “the passions and pitfalls of 21st century gay life, beginning with the most disastrous date night in history.” It premieres on January 22.
It remains to be seen if the BBC will do anything special to celebrate new Who’s 10th anniversary in the spring, but the Radio Times says that:
A BBC source says that plans for the reboot anniversary were still to be decided, and that the Corporation’s primary focus was always the show’s 50th anniversary back in 2013.
