‘Doctor Who’ Showrunner Russell T Davies Unphased By Criticisms Of His Latest Lore Changes: “If Things Are Polarizing, I Think We’re In A Healthy Position”
Between introducing the concept of ‘bi-generation’, revealing that the issue of the Human-Time Lord Meta-Crisis energies could be solved simply by being a woman, and his confirming that the concept of the ‘Timeless Child’ is still very much in play, Russell T Davies’ latest run in charge of Doctor Who has already seen him make a number of controversial changes to the series’ long-established canon – and while fans may not be too happy his choices, the showrunner is standing by each and every one of them.
Davies made clear his commitment to his creative vision – for better or worse – during a May 2024 interview given to The Verge‘s Charles Pullam-Moore in promotion of the British sci-fi show’s then-upcoming Series 14 premiere.
Met with the opening inquiry from his host, “What about stepping into this new era of Doctor Who and taking really big swings felt risky to you?”, Davies asserted, “It never feels risky to be, to be honest.”
“I’m the man who created Queer as Folk in 1999 — I live off risk,” said the returning showrunner. “I love it. I think we can be unfair to fans sometimes when we say the viewers are polarized because there’s nothing fans love more than a good debate. Just go and talk to a bunch of football fans. There are no football fans saying, ‘Our team is perfect, we’re really happy, and we’ve got nothing to say.’ They’re all arguing all the time, and that’s just what fandom is. If things are polarizing, I think we’re in a healthy position, but I also think we sometimes overstate the importance of discourse on Twitter.”
Turning his attentions to his latest changes to the series’ canon, Davies then continued, “That said, I’m a fan, and I’m not dismissing fan opinions at all, but I think that as long as I personally can find a good emotional path through the story, it’s in a good place.”
“I’m not quite sure where I am when I’m talking about the history of the legend of the Timeless Child,” he affirmed. “That actually doesn’t mean much to me. But if you say to me, ‘The Doctor is a foundling’ — an orphan who doesn’t know who his parents are — that sells it to me. Suddenly, I can listen to that man and empathize with him. That’s when you know you’re in really rich emotional territory, and I think that’s where Doctor Who is right now.”
Unfortunately for Davies, while such an ’emotionally rich territory’ my be where Doctor Who is right now, it’s viewers have not chosen to come along for the trip.
Per reported numbers, the first two episodes of Doctor Who‘s latest series debuted to staggeringly low numbers, pulling in just 2.6 million viewers overnight for its first adventure, Space Babies, and 2.2 million for The Devil’s Chord – the lowest ever in the series’ history.
By comparison, current lead Ncuti Gatwa’s first full episode as the 15th Doctor (and the last Doctor Who adventure prior to the debut of Series 14) the 60th anniversary special The Church on Ruby Road, managed to pull in an overnight total of roughly 4.73 million viewers.
Only time will tell if the next new episode of Doctor Who, ‘Boom‘, will fare any better when it premieres on May 18th.
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