Time's Up
As the Master returns to battle the 10th Doctor one last time, Darren Scott goes for coffee and a blether with the outgoing head honcho of all things Doctor Who, Russell T Davies
Just so you know, some of these questions from my office (and me actually) aren't all that serious. I start?
Come on! Look at you with your great big list of questions.
Journalist's friend – Wikipedia print out. I'm actually on your Wikipedia page.
I think you'll be there at my death bed Darren. [Laughs] I'll be going 'where is he?' You and Doctor Who Confidential. They'll certainly be there. In many years time, I'd like to add [laughs]. Talk about your life going right your eyes, mine'll be there!
Right. You came number one in the Independent's Pink List. How "influentially gay" are you at the moment?
Oh what on Earth does that mean? Ooh gay interviews, I'd forgotten what they were like, haven't done one in a long time. I just hope that I'm just always visible as being gay. I always hope that the 14/15-year-old gay boy in the closet – which most gay boys still are – see you pop up on telly being gobby and loud on Doctor Who Confidential being openly gay and see you can go out there into the world and have a job and live and be normal and be gay.
And you can get an OBE...
I was in two minds because I would sneak into Buckingham Palace and assassinate them all like a ninja. I thought, firstly it'll please my dad. Secondly I thought it would be good for an openly gay man to accept this. Lo and behold they announce it and so was Paul fucking O'Grady at the same time! So all my soapbox for being gay and visible went out the window because an even bigger gay man got one at the same time!
Is there a festive feel to these last two specials?
It's set at Christmas, yes. The Christmas ones always are because they just should be in my opinion. It starts a few days before, then Christmas Eve and a very long, dark Christmas Day for the whole planet. Honestly Darren, we finished it yesterday – fucking phenomenal. Oh my god!
I can't wait!
You will be HEARTBROKEN. You'll cry your eyes out. I was sitting in the dub yesterday blubbing. It's like being hit in the face with a sledgehammer [laughs hard]. It's brilliant! But slightly less painful. No, I'm really proud of it. It's probably our finest hour.
I'm curious as to how you can top the previous "big" stories.
So many jokes about topping in a gay magazine, stop it... You just do! You just find different approaches. Something like Last of the Time Lords was so dark. Dark, that story, as the Master burns Japan. Sexually abuses his wife frankly – that's what's going on there. How do we beat that? [Thinks] We do! [laughs] I'm going to say we do have scenes set in a women's prison that will...
GASP!
...truly excite you [laughs] In all sorts of ways... On Christmas Eve! [laughs hard] I'm really going to bite my lip on some of that stuff because I'll annoy publicity if I talk about bulldykes [laughs hard] It's fabulous. It's absolutely fabulous. We're talking black leather gloves, the works.
Oh my god, Prisoner!
Clearly! The Freak! I know! [Laughs] Remember that last episode where the Freak ended up in prison? Brilliant.
Do you wish you'd done "the companion" or a more out gay story like Star Trek attempted?
[Scoffs] No. No. I think in terms of gayness we outstrip anything out there frankly. I think with some shows they're just inherently gay anyway in their sensibilities. I think there's something very true about Doctor Who in that, its non-military aspect. It's freedom, it's anti-establishment, it's outside, it has the sort of gay status that Star Trek would never have, which is much more formal military norm. We've had the old lesbian couple in Gridlock, Captain Jack – a completely bisexual companion – you can't go much further than that. But I love the presumption – even in GT – that any character on screen that doesn't state their sexuality is therefore straight. Absolutely not true. I could take you through whole lists of those guys and tell you what they were up to! [Laughs] Especially Milo in Gridlock. Oh yes. What a beautiful boy.
Well another one of the questions I was...
How gay are you Russell T Davies?
Ha! No, it was more salacious. Who did you cast...
Because we fancied them! No-one, ever! This is why I don't believe that the casting couch ever existed because when you cast someone I have to like them, the director has to like them, the producer has to like them and the casting director has to like them as well. If I ever walked into an office saying "I'm casting this boy because I shagged him last night," three people would laugh in my face! Three people wouldn't go "yes Russell, what a wise thing to do," they would laugh me out the building. So how that ever works I just don't know. I would love it to work! So no, never.
Staying with that theme though, I've been asked to ask: Bruno Langley or Russell Tovey? Can't I have both? No. Oh. It would probably have to be Bruno because it would be very odd to whisper the name Russell in a loving way [laughs]. That'd be kind of weird for me. And very weird for him! I'm sure that he's very keen to state this. Can you imagine? Sleeping with someone that's got the same name as you?
Actually yeah, that'd be weird.
What a terrible question, you're disgraceful!
I know. It's not me, it's the gays I asked in the office. There's one about [new Doctor] Matt Smith's wotsit but I said I wasn't going there.
[Gasps] Stop that at once! [Chuckles]
I'm not really sure what difference it would make whatever the answer.
Well, does no harm of an afternoon to speculate, does it I suppose?
Strangest place you've seen Bad Wolf [a term he made famous in the show] graffiti?
I haven't seen any. Was there Bad Wolf graffiti?
There has been. I was going to ask if you'd ever done it. Maybe when drunk.
[Laughs] Imagine if I was caught! How embarrassing. "Doctor Who boss caught viral marketing his own show". Viral marketing is an excuse to get away with murder. That'd be so embarrassing [laughs].
Over your years in Who what was your gayest moment?
My gayest moment... It's just work really... [Thinks] Well every second's gay. I suppose it's just when you bump into John Barrowman of a day. When your working day involves going on set and there is John being filthy and marvelous and singing. And probably dropping his pants. D'you know, he's never dropped his pants in front of me I have to say. I think he treats me a bit like a headmaster. I swear John actually behaves more in front of me than he does with everyone else. I don't know if he consciously does that or whether it's because I'm the boss, but I don't see all that stuff he always talks about in GT interviews and things like that. I literally don't see those things and that's not fair. So I get robbed of very gay moments, I think everyone else is having very gay moments. You put Catherine Tate and John Barrowman on set together and they are howling with laughter – I'm locked away on a computer somewhere, so I suspect everyone else is having a very gay time.
Would it be difficult to pinpoint a favourite time on the show?
It is because I love them all. It's always watching finished episodes. Our favourite moment is always when you see the dub. When you see the dub you get to see it on a big cinema screen and I love that. We get Doctor Who with the fi nest picture, the fi nest surround sound, professional, really expensive speakers, listening and watching the whole thing. That's lovely, those are my favourite moments. Sixty episodes, so we've done that 60 times. I love that.
Finally then, what's your "final" Doctor Who moment going to be, ongoing involvement with Torchwood and Sarah Jane aside?
Transmission, probably on New Year's Day. But it'll never stop, we'll still be sitting here. Whatever I do then your next question will be "so what did you think of Matt Smith in that episode?" It's just not going to go away is it?
That's a date then, next year.
It is for life. It's for life isn't it? And I love it, that's fine.
The End Of Time, BBC One, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Russell's book, The Writer's Tale: The Final Chapter is out in January.
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