Details are scant regarding Russell T. Davies's impending return to Doctor Who, but his recent work contains clues about what to expect. Chris Chibnall, Doctor Who’s current showrunner, is leaving the show following season 13 and a final run of specials in 2022. Davies, who helmed the show during its 2005 revival, is taking over, and his return has been met with a warm reception from viewers who are eager to see the series back under his stewardship.
After a period of inactivity, in recent years Davies has returned to TV with a string of limited-run series. His three most recent series, A Very English Scandal, Years and Years, and It’s A Sin have all received near-universal critical praise. With his return to Doctor Who approaching, Davies appears to be in his creative prime. But what might these other series reveal about Davies' new vision for Doctor Who?
While Davies' work has covered everything from political intrigue to the AIDS crisis, there are themes and artistic traits that recur throughout. With a TV writing career spanning more than 30 years, Davies has time and again shown a deft hand creating characters that feel real and exploring the intricacies of both romantic and familial relationships. His recent few series have been no exception, and while the alien menace might remain a mystery, there’s plenty to glean about the human stories that will be the meat and potatoes of Davies’ new era of Doctor Who.
A Very English Scandal
Making its US premiere on Amazon Prime, A Very English Scandal tells the true story of Jeremy Thorpe, an English politician in the ‘70s who was blackmailed over a gay affair. Adapted from John Preston’s true-crime novel of the same name, the series stars Hugh Grant as Thorpe and Ben Whishaw as his ex-lover, Norman Josiffe. The premise has the potential to be a stuffy period drama, but instead, the series is witty and nimble. Somehow, given the role of a lascivious, murderous, and corrupt politician, Grant delivers one of his most charming performances to date. That kind of skilled character work has been a hallmark of Davies’ career but it's demonstrated with particular flair in A Very English Scandal.
Much in the way that Davies was able to imbue the Ninth Doctor with his own vein of bitterness and hurt while still feeling lively and playful, Davies’ new rendition of The Doctor will almost certainly feature that same blend of comedy and drama. Thorpe’s complexity, in particular the cheerful way he masks a great amount of inner hardship, is something that could easily translate to The Doctor’s complicated past. A Very English Scandal plays out as a comedy of errors. There’s a bumbling, even farcical quality to the absurd plot that would be perfectly at home in an episode of Doctor Who. While the subject matter couldn’t be more different, the vibrant pace of A Very English Scandal shows that Davies won’t miss a beat when returning to the brisk adventures of Doctor Who.
Years and Years
Easily the most ambitious of Davies’ recent efforts, Years and Years follows the Lyons family as the series moves, year by year, into the future, tracing all of today’s social and political concerns to their terrifying potential outcomes. The series, which is available now on HBO Max, is a uniquely anxiety-inducing experience as Davies brings the relentless march of time down on the audience in each episode. Despite the show’s fantastical nature, his initial run of Doctor Who never shied away from reflecting the real world. Whether it came in the form of thinly veiled political commentary, or via the appearance of modern-day political figures, his Doctor Who was interested in timely questions and wasn’t afraid of providing answers.
Years and Years is no different, and with it as a point of consideration, Davies appears even more emboldened when it comes to depicting the future of the world. Similar to Black Mirror, modern-day hot-button topics will undoubtedly provide fodder for Davies’ new vision of Doctor Who. It’s likely the future world seen in his Doctor Who will even bear some direct resemblance to Years and Years, particularly with its handling of digital consciousness and the ever-expanding interconnectivity of our lives. Despite the lack of Daleks and Slitheen, Years and Years is likely to be the best available reference for which of Davies’s cultural and technological fascinations will work their way into the TARDIS.
It’s A Sin
It’s A Sin tells the heartwrenching story of a group of young gay men in ‘80s London whose lives are torn apart by the AIDS crisis. Of his recent work, this is perhaps the series with the least immediately apparent points of comparison to Doctor Who. But it demonstrates that Davies has further honed his skills when it comes to hitting the audience with an emotional haymaker. That disarming, almost operatic sense of emotion was a signature of Davies’ era of Doctor Who.
It’s A Sin shows that, at this point in his career, Davies is even more willing to depict tragedy, and more likely to punctuate a storyline with a heartbreaking conclusion. While he may shy away from going full Adric, future Doctor Who companions should know that the death of a major character is in the cards. While a specific prediction is difficult to make, It’s A Sin’s cast also provides ample fodder for speculation of the new Doctor Who cast. Star of It’s A Sin, Olly Alexander, has already had to deny rumors that he will be the next actor to play The Doctor. But regardless of whether Olly Alexander is the next Doctor, he and Lydia West are both highly likely to appear in the series.
Heading back to his old post as Doctor Who showrunner, Davies looks to be in top form. His recent output demonstrates that he’s retained everything that made his initial run of Doctor Who great but also shows a desire to break new ground. His new era of Doctor Who is poised to inherit all the creative successes of these other series. Russell T. Davies isn’t a writer being brought out of mothballs to play the hits, he’s consistently putting out creative, captivating drama. At this point, Doctor Who needs a new approach. As unlikely as it may sound considering his status as the former showrunner, all of his recent work indicates that he’s just the person for the job.