Twenty one years later...

 

Whatever your view of the recently curtailed RTD2, there’s no doubt that the showrunner’s first era was peak Doctor Who. This is an (occasionally re-edited) overview of that period in the show’s history, originally penned in 2010 for the paper version of This Way Up. You can see my enthusiasm and if I’m honest, looking back at this period now, my zeal remains undiminished. As well as being a fan of the classic series, I feel that the 2005-10 period contains some of the best Doctor Who ever!

Once upon a time people used to define eras of Doctor Who by the incumbent Doctor so they would refer to the `Troughton Era` for example. A bit later, it was the producer who would be given all the credit, hence the `Hinchliffe Era`. Later still when we knew more about the way the programme was made; we’d refer perhaps to the Barry Letts / Terrance Dicks Era, recognising the invaluable creative input of the script editor. Latterly it reached a point where it seemed you could actually define three distinct Eras under the aegis of the show’s longest running producer John Nathan Turner. In fact, it was never even as simple as all of that but one thing we can never be in doubt about regarding the 2005-10 period of broadcast Doctor Who is that to call it the Russell T Davies Era is totally- factually- correct.

For a start he is solely credited with half of the total of 60 stories shown since 2005 plus an additional three as co-writes. Yet as the excellent `Writers Tale` book makes plain, there are only about 8 scripts he has had minimal input into plus he had already story lined each season. This should not diminish our appreciation of the other writers, indeed it is the case that many have benefitted from his input- as he has from theirs- yet it takes a special skill and dedication to toil on a show in such a way. The end result though is that we can pretty much be assured that RTD is in every moment of his Era and the result is a special understanding of what makes this most mercurial TV show tick.
Some of what are referred to as RTD’s changes actually just translate as the way modern TV drama is made. If you want a UK pioneer, then you probably need to look at the first season of Spooks which heralded a new wave of fast paced, modern BBC drama series of which Doctor Who is one of several; others include Hustle, New Tricks and Waterloo Road. Across genres, the Corporation seemed to come alive in the Noughties offering a much broader and exciting range of shows than it had in the uncertain 1990s. Some of this was possible because of improved production techniques, particularly the spectacular things that CGI can do for relatively less money, some reflects our changing society, other aspects show how TV now has to compete in a more crowded market. 

Most fans and plenty of viewers were shocked when Rose was first shown and as the 2005 season unfurled many reactions seemed to be centred on how people felt the show had changed rather than the many ways in which it had stayed the same. This in itself should not have been a surprise but if you look back now it’s easy to see where RTD got alot of his inspiration and that’s from the Doctor Who of the first half of the 1970s.  There are a host of similar attributes that could apply to Barry Letts’ producership as much as they fit today. There’s the mainly Earth based adventures, use of contemporary concerns at the centre of many stories, there’s a more powerful and real bond between the Doctor and his companions than in other periods of the show and a loosely defined `future history` of the Earth linking across several stories. Then there’s the faux news coverage of fictional events and the use of new technology (and the fear of what it might bring) as a basis for several stories. As if to underscore his love of that period of the show, RTD has brought back many icons either created in that period- The Master, Sarah Jane Smith, the Sontarans, Davros – or used heavily during it- UNIT and the Time Lords.

The biggest similarity of all is in what we might call the philosophy of the show. Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks’ seasons had a strong moral stance, much derived from Letts’ Buddhist beliefs. At the time it was easier to portray guilt and responsibility to a viewing public that would be more religious. Parents of young 70s viewers would more likely than not have been raised with strong values and in a strictly class based society.  Revived in 2009, the Time Lords seem a bit odd and alien to modern viewers, whereas in the 70s we would recognise familiar authority or church figures (they were even titled chancellors and cardinals).

The third Doctor was also the first incarnation to go some way to explaining his belief in largely non violent intervention and passive resistance. Admittedly this sits uneasily with the fact that most of his stories included a strong military force and ended with a large explosion but the Doctor always took time out to try and preach tolerance and understanding.

It could be argued that the more you explore the character of the Doctor, the less alien and more conventional he becomes. TV is full of vulnerable, scarred heroes and what set old Who apart was the Doctor’s strength of character, his- if you like- invincibility. Letts / Dicks were the only production team to prod at this, but the way TV was made then stopped them going any further. The sort of thing we’ve seen in the last five years would have been impossible on 70s telly, especially all the snogging!

Updating the 70s Who of his youth, RTD managed to cleverly circumnavigate the old fashioned bits, while keeping the moral core and of course the adventuresome exterior. Older fans may bemoan the pace of today’s show  but there is no less story in a 45 minute episode now than there was in the old 4 parter. It would be an interesting exercise actually to try and edit an old story into 45 minutes; remove all the wandering up and down corridors, the being captured / escaping, the set ups that ensured a cliff-hanger every week and the stilted expositional dialogue and it would work. Essentially this is what RTD did. From the start he built in shorthand with the psychic paper letting the Doctor into each story without the tedious “what are you doing here?” routine. The use of an emotionally based plot rather than a technical idea allows the heart of the story to reveal itself far more quickly. Instead of having TV reports to set the scene as in The Daemons or Day of the Daleks, RTD has news channels to tell us loads of plot. It sounds more ambitious in a way, but the current series’ public invasions mean there is less time spent establishing covert bases, research centres or isolated villages. A spaceship over London is wonderful shorthand that cuts out all the establishing guff- essentially Davies is much more interested in people’s reaction to that spaceship than why it’s there and what it’s doing.

In the Writer’s Tale he talks of wanting to create a version of Doctor Who that is “in the present tense”. His scripts and ideas tumble over each other and he dumps characters when they have no further purpose. He also never allows plot to stand in the way of character and emotion and this approach has never been used in Doctor Who before. His first season is essentially a love story, not just between the Doctor and Rose but also between the writer and the show. His interpretation maintained the moral axis around which the series has always spun whilst adding colours to the template quite successfully. It’s there in the fibre of each episode; the Doctor’s apologies to victims, his confidence boosting talks to characters and, finally, when he can’t press those levers in the last episode because of what will result. In that sense he is very much, visibly, the same Doctor who dallied with the two wires in Genesis of the Daleks.

By linking each episode, rather like a thirteen part epic, Davies is also able to achieve something the old series never could; a real emotional line. There was always a lot of talk about companions’ `characters` but in effect they disappeared after each new assistant’s first story. The 2005 version however actually does develop Rose Tyler’s character and she is able to influence the Doctor to some extent as well.. Rose seems partly based on Jo Grant, a hugely under-rated companion who’s had to exist in the shadow of the more popular and now revived Sarah Jane Smith. Pick a Jo Grant story at random and you’ll see the old myth about companions doing nothing (as inaccurate a view of the old series as the wobbly sets one) blown out of the water. Jo is an instinctive, natural character and Rose shares the same sort of reactions to extraordinary events as well as a fondness for the Doctor. In the 70s of course, the idea of them being actually attracted to each other would have been impossible but you can see in some respects that is the implication. In all aspects of the stories, RTD is more interested in people and relationships rather than ideas and concepts. Time and again he employs huge ideas to illustrate small things- in every season finale for example half the universe seems to be ripped apart but it’s all for the sake of one gesture, of love or loyalty or sacrifice.  The series has never been on the one hand so melodramatic yet on the other so real and raw.

RTD’s debut season then used Rose as our way in (indeed the first episode is seen from her point of view) and starts off with her excited by the very idea of the Doctor, clearly the most interesting person she has ever met. He shows her weird times and places but she never allows herself to be overwhelmed; (chatting normally to the cleaner in End of the World, relating to Gwyneth in The Unquiet Dead.) She becomes fascinated by the idea of time travel; even in something as simple as placing her foot in 1860s snow, and absorbs the wonder. By the time of the Slitheen episodes she is quite prepared to trust the Doctor even if it means her own death proving she has pulled away from her earthbound concerns and soaked up some of the Doctor’s outlook.  The difference between her new and old life is illustrated in the comparison with her mother’s selfish concerns that the Doctor guarantees her daughter’s safety. It is in Dalek that we see Rose’s fully fledged independence when, just as the Doctor would, she stands up for the lone, humanised Dalek by confronting the Doctor himself who wants to destroy the creature because of his own past history with its race. “It’s not him pointing the gun at me”  says  Rose challenging him; “what are you turning into?”. This pivotal moment marks them out as equals from then on and the way that Rose blazes her way through subsequent adventures (some clearly off screen) and they become a team ultimately flips the relationship. The faith that both the Doctor and Rose have in each other leads to a grand finale when they both risk everything for the other. It’s also rewarding to see Davies tackling the feelings of those left behind with Mickey and Rose’s mum.

From the moment we meet him, the ninth Doctor is in a hurry- running away from the Time War by heading into new dangers and he seems to relish the danger(“Fantastic!”) Here again we can see the similarities with the show’s past and in particular the fourth incarnation. Here was a complex interpretation of this most elusive role; this Doctor was harsh and demanding, yet he could also coax the best out of people. He wasn’t afraid to confront anything and he used flip humour to confuse and give him time to think. He grinned like a crazy man, said crazy things yet his mind was always two steps ahead of even his most dangerous enemy. The Ninth Doctor is very much in this mould; in fact at times Davies seems to literally interpret his name as time and again this Doctor heals situations. If you look at each of the episodes, it is only a couple of times that the Doctor himself does something directly to resolve the scenario. Everywhere else the situation is resolved because the Doctor has offered advice or encouragement or wheedled intensions out of his enemy while someone else has been listening. It’s as if this Doctor is afraid to take direct action because of what he did in the Time War; instead he coaches his companions, mingles with locals, gets his companions or even Charles Dickens to do it. Later, David Tennant’s Doctor would also channel Tom Baker’s yet mixing this up with more human traits. Ultimately Davies had the `Doctor` moniker used as a watchword for defeating evil; just as the series became famous in a way it had never been before, so he wrote into scripts that the Doctor’s name was renowned across time.   

The 2005 season was the most difficult to make- but the lessons learned were to prove invaluable in shaping subsequent series. It’s interesting to note though that many of that season’s cornerstones were kept – the public invasions, the running theme, the celebrity historical, the big two part finale, the resurrecting of some of the show’s icons, the mostly Earth based stories and the emotional emphasis in the scripts.

The departure of Christopher Eccleston was destined to remain a puzzle for many years and even in 2026 we don’t quite know the full story. Despite this shock, the series seemed to be bigger than ever by mid 2005 but we hadn’t seen the half of it. Next up was The Christmas Invasion, which began a new tradition of the Xmas Day Doctor Who Special. There’s something different about these episodes, they play in broader strokes appealing to a wider audience (most of them are amongst the most watched RTD episodes) and they are enormously entertaining to sit down to watch after an afternoon of turkey and Figgie pudding.  However significant they are in the life of the series (The Christmas Invasion was David Tennant’s debut episode, The End of Time part 1 his penultimate) there is still time for fun. Disturbing fun, mind. Our mince pies have been accompanied by killer Santa’s, homicidal Xmas trees, lethal Xmas grenades, a giant red spider, a disaster movie and an enormous steam punk Cyberking stomping over London. These more than most will be the episodes held dearly in the collective memory of people who will grow up to become writers, directors or actors and who will one day resurrect Doctor Who themselves. The public now looks forward to the Xmas Day Doctor Who Special .

It’s fascinating to see how different David Tennant is to his predecessor; this Doctor is more willing to personally get involved and he seems less angst ridden. While he still mourns for the Time Lords, it’s behind a frivolity and a zeal for discovery. While Eccleston’s Doctor was reckless because he had lost everything, you get a sense that Tennant’s simply enjoys the thrill for it’s own sake. RTD plays a risky game with this- certainly there are parts of Tennant’s first season where the Doctor seems too self confident. His conviction that he can – and would – do anything if unchecked by a companion emerges after he is separated from Rose in a season finale that manages to cram Daleks vs. Cybermen into the sad ending of a love story. It’s Donna in The Runaway Bride who first recognises the Doctor’s need for someone to stop him going too far and it surfaces again in the following Xmas Special when he can’t save Astrid. Season 4 concludes with a forensic examination, courtesy of Davros, of the Doctor’s methods and motivations and by the time we get to Waters of Mars, he decides, albeit briefly, to ignore the strictures of time altogether.

Overall the 2006 season has less of an ongoing story, despite the need to mention Torchwood every episode. More often than not this was a literal mention (e.g. “How’s it going at Torchwood?”) rather than any grand plan. When the organisation finally emerged at the season finale there was nothing that - Tooth and Claw aside- harked back to earlier episodes. Oddly, the Torchwood we see turns out to be totally different anyway to the one in the spin off series. What season 2 was really about then was the bliss of a strong relationship; there is a flippant air that some mistook for smugness in the Doctor and Rose’s adventures in the early episodes. They act like a couple and it’s not until Impossible Planet that we get a glimpse of how differently they see the relationship. Rose is ready to talk about getting a house, the Doctor clearly hasn’t thought of such domesticity. This relative calm allows the season’s stories to be more frivolous and imaginative. It’s the furthest this revived series has yet strayed from itself in that we enjoy more or less self contained adventures in the company ot a couple who enjoy travelling together. Thus, season 2 is `domestics` really; we have “the ex and the missus” of School Reunion, the Doctor’s brief flirtation with Madame de Pompadour, the reunion of Rose’s parents in the Cyberman story. There’s the overlooked Idiot’s Lantern which turns on the relationship between a father and son and of course the much maligned Love and Monsters in which a childhood encounter with the Doctor lives on in the adult Elton. Taking this theme to its literal conclusion Fear Her is set in a very ordinary house.

Having allowed us to bask in this, RTD then removes it all with a season finale that gives old school fans something they’ve always wanted- a Dalek/ Cyberman dust up and breaks new fans’ hearts by separating the Doctor and Rose seemingly forever.  It’s an example of how both the epic and emotional aspects of the series are increasingly heightened each year. 

Seasons 3 and 4 were inevitably made in the knowledge of the series’ success- the third is as confident a production as you’re ever likely to see including the breathtaking Human Nature / Family of Blood- nothing as crass as anti war or a straightforward love story, this was an original Paul Cornell idea that he and RTD moulded into an examination of the things that we love and fear all wrapped up in some amazing scenes that get to the core of what the show should be about. Then there was the most amazing sequence a few minutes from the end of Utopia where both the viewer and Martha realise at exactly the same time that Professor Yana is The Master – surely the most thrilling moment for long term fans.

Season 3’s confidence extends to the more accomplished planting of the season’s arc- Mr Saxon- and includes the best season opener of the new series so far in Smith and Jones plus the much lauded Blink, an exercise in how you can have a horror story for all the family. A lot of fan criticism has been levelled at the final two episodes, despite a hugely enjoyable performance by John Simm, for what is seen as messianic tendencies. RTD’’s belief in the goodness of most people seems tempered by the feeling that we need someone to look up to. Yet elsewhere, RTD has baulked at the power of religion- in Gridlock it’s the communal hymn that makes the Doctor realise that these people are trapped and faith is holding them back. In Waters of Mars, the moment the Doctor becomes `Time Lord Victorious` and starts acting like God it causes the suicide of a character we have grown to respect during the story.

An avowed atheist, Davies seems nonetheless intrigued by the mechanics of religion and in Last of the Time Lords; his idea is of the Doctor as a Christ like figure raised back to existence by sheer willpower alone. It probably is a conceptual step too far, even if many of the critics of this story forget the terrible “decimation” that Earth had just gone through at the hands of The Master. Under such circumstances would people become more likely to believe in a saviour? To believe in anything they think can get them out of the chaos? There is a danger of over analysing though- it’s equally possible to dislike the episode because David Tennant’s hardly in it. Or because you don’t believe Martha’s shoes would be strong enough to walk all the way round the world in!! The season finale does demonstrate the tremendous sense of the bizarre that the series has brought under RTD- particularly Simm’s version of The Master. The Doctor’s nemesis never seemed so dangerous before.

In trying to explore the Doctor / companion relationship, RTD moved on from the Rose love story to Martha’s unrequited love – he’s said it’s his favourite topic to write about and it provides a different feel to the season. The news that for the 2008 season, the Doctor was to be paired with Donna once more was greeted with a sharp intake of breath, though those of us who’d enjoyed The Runaway Bride and were hoping Donna would say Yes at the end, knew it would work and of course it did.
It was also a much needed change of dynamic, allowing the show to go to different places now a more mature companion was involved. It turned out that she was the best match of all for Tennant’s now imperial Doctor- topping polls and winning awards everywhere and well on his way to being as publicly associated with the role as Tom Baker had been in the 70s. Donna was able to act as a conscience for the Doctor- as soon as Fires of Pompeii she is challenging his actions, demanding he save at least one family. Catherine Tate holds her own against the mercurial Tennant and the “best mates” makes a great team. Donna’s journey from Chiswick temp to the super intelligent meta crisis altered person who saves the Universe is ultimately more satisfying than either Rose’s or Martha’s. She is the `real` person that RTD has been trying to find from the start and her ultimate fate is perhaps the saddest moment ever essayed in any version of the series. Season 4 apart from following her development doesn’t really have as much of a theme though the recurring motif of disappearing planets (and bees) leads into the finale. The range of stories seems broader with the more straightforward lively Sontaran 2 parter, contrasting with the cerebral Silence in the Library. There’s the historical dilemma in Fires of Pompeii or a more personal one in Midnight, RTD’s best solo credited script of the season where he presents the Doctor stripped of his authority and at the mercy of people who suspect his knowledge threatens them.

Reflecting Tennant’s enormous popularity, the season concludes with an even larger conceptual threat- this time Reality itself is about to be zapped by Davros. The thing about these season finales, each of which has been bigger than the last, is that they personify Davies’ “present tense” Doctor Who as mentioned earlier. If you watch them with a critical eye, you will find plot holes, ludicrous concepts and incredulous conveniences. Yet if you watch them to be entertained, thrilled, excited then you will love them and find much you identify with. Only the hardest hearted or the harshest critics can’t fail to be grabbed by the tense bits or moved by the stirring developments. The most surprising strand of the story was the examination of the companions’ role. Quite without us ever noticing it as a repeating theme, the modern companions (and even Sarah Jane to some extent) had become militarised. They were armed with or had access to super powerful weapons and this harked back to the 2005 season where the Doctor got other people to take direct action. It took Davros to point this out.  This finale was different though; we had our triumphant victory. There was no more joyous moment on television in 2008 than the Earth being towed home by the TARDIS, it’s console manned on all sides with Martha looking at us – us!- and inviting us to share in the thing.

Then came the dark, sad conclusion. Rumours of a companion being killed off had circled the production and yet this seemed even more of a shock than had Donna actually died. Watching that scene, as Donna realises what is about to happen and begs the Doctor not to do it is incredibly powerful whether or not you believe the journey to reach it.

With the entire production team moving on- and with fan favourite Steven Moffett waiting in the wings- four Specials marked the end of the Era. The first two were deliberately frivolous as a contrast to Waters of Mars and The End of Time, both of which turned out to herald significant moments in the history of the show. Both managed to stretch the Doctor’s character more perhaps than ever before and allowed David Tennant to give his best performances in the series. Some say Waters of Mars went too far in developing the `Time Lord Victorious`- my takes is they could have run with it a little longer.
Most fans swiftly labelled the old series “classic Who”, a loaded title suggesting a quality that could not be matched and many found the Noughties series lacking. Yet there is something in the way they say this that suggests they never wanted it to succeed; I know of some fans who were never happier than when it seemed the series was not going to come back. Odd? Yes, but you’ll find the same attitude in any fandom be it music, sport or anything else. Dusty old fanzines are full of letters demanding Tom Baker be sacked and the shows that are now labelled all time classics are lambasted. Fandom does live on in the blogosphere and various websites, but this era of the show has been more documented than any other; thanks to Doctor Who Confidential, DWM, DVD commentaries and the Writer’s Tale book there are already enough stories and anecdotes to last a lifetime. And you have to admit that Operation Cobra is a bit more interesting than everyone donning an eye patch to amuse Nick Courtney.

The Writer’s Tale is the most fascinating account of the series yet released and gives an insight into the series’ lynchpin that we can only have guessed at before. We have no clue what was rattling through Robert Holmes’s head when tackling the re-write of Pyramids of Mars yet we can accompany the development of stories like Voyage of the Damned or The End of Time through a myriad of options, problems and ideas. It really is amazing how the latter story started off as a few notes and a wish to bring back The Master and ended up with what we saw.

So, what had Russell T Davies done for us? He’s rejuvenated Doctor Who and made it a national treasure, filled it with a life it never had before and he’s pushed the boundaries both in the type of stories it can tell and the way they are told. More than anything, he’s made it entertaining and fun. Inevitable last word – Marvellous!!