RUSSELL T DAVIES STEPS DOWN

[Trekkygeek]

Doctor Who guru Davies steps down (taken from the BBC Website)



Russell T Davies is to step down as executive producer of Doctor Who, the BBC has announced.

Davies is credited with breathing new life into the show which he brought back to television screens in 2005.

Bafta-winning writer Steven Moffat will succeed Davies as lead writer and executive producer of the fifth series of Doctor Who.

Moffat said that the whole of his career had been "a secret plan to get this job".

   
DAVIES' CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Children's Ward (1993-1995)
Touching Evil (1997)
Queer As Folk (1999)
Casanova (2005)
Doctor Who (2005-2008)
Torchwood (2006-2008)
BBC Fiction controller Jane Tranter said the past four series of Doctor Who had been "brilliantly helmed" by the "spectacularly talented" Davies.

"As lead writer and executive producer, he has overseen the creative direction and detail of the 21st century re-launch of Doctor Who and we are delighted to have his continued presence on the specials over the next 18 months," she added.

Davies will remain in charge of four specials to be shown in 2009.

The fifth series, with Moffat at the helm, is scheduled to be broadcast on BBC One in Spring 2010.

Moffat has already written some of the most memorable Doctor Who episodes of recent times, including The Girl in the Fireplace and The Empty Child.

   
MOFFAT'S CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Press Gang (1989)
Coupling (2000)
Jekyll (2007)
Doctor Who (2005 onwards )
Tintin (2008 onwards)

Earlier this month, he picked up the best writer Bafta for the Blink episode of series three which featured terrifying weeping angels.

Moffat said: "I applied before but I got knocked back 'cos the BBC wanted someone else. Also I was seven.

"Anyway, I'm glad the BBC has finally seen the light and it's a huge honour to be following Russell into the best - and the toughest - job in television.

"I say toughest 'cos Russell's at my window right now, pointing and laughing."

Doctor Who's return after a 16-year break from the screen received praise from critics and fans alike.

Speaking after the first series of the revamped show in 2005 - which starred Christopher Eccleston as the Time Lord - Davies said Doctor Who had been in desperate need of regeneration.

   
I applied before but I got knocked back 'cos the BBC wanted someone else. Also I was seven
Steven Moffat

"I love Doctor Who and I love the old Doctor Who," he said.

"But, even with all that love, you have to admit that the name of the programme had become a joke and its reputation had become a cheap joke at that - you know, rubber monsters and shaky sets."

He added: "It's been everything we planned and more, and it's very rarely in life you get the chance to have that happen."

The programme, complete with time machine the Tardis, originally ran from 1963 to 1989.

In that time, the lead role was played by eight different actors with writers taken advantage of the Doctor's ability to regenerate his body.

Eccleston and current Time Lord David Tennant take that number to 10.

[Trekkygeek]

At first glance this seems like really bad news but Moffatt has written some corkers and I think the franchise is in good hands. But thank you Mr Davies for all you did

[Meds]

Well this was first mentioned about six months ago and i also heard then that Moffat would be taking charge. I think this is a good thing. RTD has done a marvelous job and he has done many a Who fan proud and he knows when it is time to call it a day. I can't think of anyone better than Steven Moffat, his stories have been the highlights of the new series. I met him a few years ago at a Holmes meal at the houses of parliament in London, he was with Mark gatiss who was guest speaker at meal and i found him to be a great guy. Here's to RTD and to the future of Who.

[lostrekkie]

Man, I loved Davis. I never heard of Doctor Who before that first episode when the doctor came rushing in and saw Rose for the first time. That man created the Doctor for me and many of my generation. I have only seen one episode of the old series, but these this new one has been my favorite show behind only Heroes and Lost since ENT ended.

[Meds]

Its good that you are really into Dr Who. I'm always shocked when people say they have never heard of Dr Who before RTD came into the fold. The 'classic' series really should NOT be ignored, well maybe the 7th Doctor seasons (and no disrespect to Sylvester Mccoy it was the BBC's fault). I've been a Who fan since i was the age of 6 so i was brought up with Tom Baker and Peter Davison. I really enjoy the new seasons, Chris Eccleston and David Tennant have been amazing in the main role but the magic of the original series has gone, maybe because we live in a different age. I lent my friend at work a early William Hartnell episode (The Daleks) actually it was the second story, and he showed it to his daughter who is 8 and she was really scared. She enjoyed it but was also scared now to me that is how Dr Who should be. My point is from the new series of Dr Who the only episodes to bring that quality of enjoyment and hiding behind the sofa is Steven Moffat eg The Empty Child, The Girl in the Fireplace, Blink and of course he is responsible for writing the excellent 6 min episode Time Crash. Moffat coming in is a positive step for Dr Who. As i said on a previous post RTD has done an exceptional job and he shall always be remembered by old Who fans as the man rescuing us from cancellation and to new Who fans for bringing them a new Sci Fi programme.

[lostrekkie]

O, I have no doubt Moffat will do an excellent job. "Blink" was the first episode of any television show that actually scared me. I am not scared easily by TV or movies (though I am still terrified of haunted houses, even really bad ones). But I disagree that the magic of the original series is gone. Though I haven't seen much of it, I absolutely love Doctor Who. I have major discussions about TV and the themes it present with my English teacher, and Doctor Who is one of my favorite discussion points.

The show almost perfectly mixes drama, sadness, humor, fun, adventure, and great characters that almost no other show does. Sure, Lost does great drama and characters, but it doesn't have a lot of great humor. House has great characters and drama, but it has no sense of adventure in it. DW is the only show out there to really do this so well. "The Family..." 2 parter (I forgot the name) is series 3 is a perfect example of this. It is humorous for the first part, but the second part really gets into some deep emotions and character development. I really loved the part where the man the Doctor had become hated who he had to go back to. You get so used to the idea of the Doctor as a fun, adventurous person that you forget he really does have a dark side, and its always great to see that side of him.

Sorry I went on for a little bit, but I really do love this show.

[Meds]

The family of blood. A fantastic episode taken from the book Human Nature. Here is a link to the book online, it's a good read

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/ebooks/human_nature/

Also if you do get a chance read this book called Lungbarrow. It's the story of who the doctor is. This is a big area in the the Dr world and has caused many a discussion.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/ebooks/lungbarrow/index.shtml

Hope you like them. If you have a spare $35 then go buy the First episodes of Dr Who with William hartnell. The bonus features on mine (though mine is region 2 i've posted the link below for your region) are excellent. Plus you get to see the daleks for the first time.

http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Who-Collection-William-Hartnell/dp/B000CNESV2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1211721240&sr=8-2

Happy viewing

[lostrekkie]

Thanks, I will be sure to check them out. My birthday is coming soon so I will ask for them then. Thanks again.

[Meds]

Well the books are free online but the DVD is worth purchasing. PM if you need any info on old Who.

[X]

Meds, I think you have to put the experience into context. There are numerous shows that would frighten a child from the current series, but in the same breath, we have come a long way as to what frightens us today and what frightened us as a child.

My daughter loves monsters and I think that there are few shows that would scare her. On the other hand, I remember being terrified as a child when I watch Salem's Lot. When I see it today, I don't know why I was ever sacred. In addition to that while Salem's Lot terrified me, I snuck in and saw either Dawn or Day of the Dead at the cinema and people were rushing out getting sick and I LOVED the movie. It was only a few years difference and the effects of the Dead movie were leaps and bound above Salem's Lot.

If the Satan's Pit and the return of the Cybermen were shown when I was a kid, I would have probaly been scared. As an adult, it's kind of old hat, but nothing is unenjoyable about it.

Also when you think about it, while there might have been some frightening shows, for the most part, and the bulk of the old series, there wasn't.

When I think back to my watching classic Who on PBS, it was never the scary stuff that I remembered. It was the adventure though time and space. It was a companion dying as he wondered how the dinosaurs of Earth would become extinct.

The Doctor that I fondly recall as my Doctor would have to had been Tom Baker. That was my Doctor, not because of he was the first I saw, but the first I truly remembered.

BUT....

As an adult, I decided to make a new criteria for who would me MY Doctor.

It's one simple question: Which Doctor would you like to travel Time and Space with?

David Tennant is the Doctor of record for me. That is the Doctor and the Tardis that I would like to travel with.

[Meds]

Oh yeah totally agree with you. All i'm saying is a lot of people have not seen early Who and there is nothing wrong with that, i mean a lot of people who started with TNG never saw TOG. Same thing. For me i'd still have to stick with Peter Davison and his tardis. My reason well David Tennant is a newer version on Davison, he even says that himself as the doctor during Time crash and in real life as an actor. Tom Baker i started off with and Davison is the last good Doctor out of the old series (no disrespect to Colin Baker or Sylvester Mccoy)
I'm really interested in Lostrekkie's point of view being a new Who fan, i think it is so ogod that new people are getting into Dr Who, being British Dr Who is our main Sci Fi series so i always feel very proud of the show.

[lostrekkie]

It feels cool for me to be a new generation of Who fan. I am 16 and what Tom Baker is to you guys, David Tennant is to me. Its a cool feeling. (sorry if I make you guys feel old lol)

Like I said before, this show is a great hybrid a numerous genres, not just scifi (though some can argue the scifi genre itself is a hybrid of several genres). It just has this great quality to its stories, which I think is partly because of its 13 episodes series. Here in the US, we get 22-24 episodes a season, and because of that, we get great episodes and bad episodes, sometimes even several episodes in a row that a great or bad. But with 13 episodes, your stories don't have the... luxury of having low points, and so every episodes is a great adventure.