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Under the direction of showrunner Russell T. Davies,Doctor Whoseries 14 made its Disney+ premiere on May 10,2024. Although fans have praised the casting and performance of Ncuti Gatwa as the 15th Doctor, many still haven’t forgotten the subpar writing and misguided direction that Davies has taken the beloved long-running Sci-Fi TV show. Most of the complaints derive from Davies' decreased storytelling quality,number of filler episodes, unconvincing dramatic resolutions, stilted dialogue, and more.
The criticism of Davis has gotten so bad over the years that the popular Ninth Doctor, Christopher Eccleston, declared he’d happily return to the show if Davies was relieved of his duties. Davies has written four episodes of the newest season ofDoctor Whoon Disney+, which holds a 7.5 IMDb rating compared to the main series' stellar 8.6 IMDb mark. With series 14 on pace to conclude on June 08, 2025, it’s time to express whyDoctor Whofans disapprove of Russell T. Davies.
Doctor Who
Who Is Russell T. Davies?
Russell T. Davies is a Welsh television writer who began his career in the late 1980s. After making his mark onQueer as Folkin the mid-2000s, Davies wrote his firstDoctor Whospecial in 2005, entitledChildren in Need. That same year, Davies became an executive producer and showrunner forDoctor Whoand various TV and video game spinoffs. In addition to variousDoctor Whospecials, Davies has written at least 45 episodes of the popular British Sci-Fi TV series.
When Davies joined the show, Christopher Eccleston was cast as the fan-favorite Ninth Doctor. Years later,Eccleston publicly ridiculed Davies and claimed he would only return to the show if Davies were fired. But before delving into those particulars, it’s worth tracing the fans' misgivings about Davies. In a2011 fan forum, fans dedicated entire threads to their disapproval of Davies as head writer of thepopular time travel TV series, which has only been amplified in the past 13 years.
Why Do Fans Dislike Russell T. Davies?
One of the main gripes about Davies' writing style is thatfor every good episode he writes, he follows up with four or five filler episodesthat hardly justify his contributions.As Togs states:
“I hate Russell T. Davies because he was terrible at his job- 2 or 3 good episodes don’t make up for countless episodes of dross he made “Gridlock”, “Partners in Crime”, and the whole season 4 finale. He’d come up with these huge ideas that couldn’t possibly fit into a 50-minute episode, never leaving enough time for the suspense to build.”
Supporting the sentiment,Redditor Extra_Age2505penned a lengthy screed detailingDavies' lazy writing style that over-relies on last-minute Deus Ex Machina to resolve the storyline. According to the OP:
“Russell has a habit of writing himself into a corner and then pulling a deus ex machina to get out of it. The Daleks are invading Earth, the TARDIS is gone and the Doctor can’t bring himself to wipe them out? That’s okay, Rose can absorb the power of the time vortex and become a god. There are millions of Daleks and Cybermen on Earth? That’s okay, the Doctor can suck them through a hole in the universe.”
While some fans feel Davies pales compared to previousDoctor Whoscribes like Steven Moffat and Neil Gaiman, others feel downright cheated by the direction Davies has continued to take the series.As Sleep_eeSheepdramatically notes:
“I feel as if I had been lied to. I remember sticking up for RTD when he was announced as the showrunner for the 14th Doctor. I thought he would’ve respected the additions to Canon HE made, including how the Doctor sees humanity as a flawed but ultimately noble race. Now Ihatemyself forever thinking this low-down snake could’ve been trusted.”
In the 2008 book TheWriter’s Tale, Davis admits to being a notorious procrastinator who waits until the last minute to write. This could explain why fans dislike his over-dependence on Deus Ex Machina as a storytelling device. Certain fans defend Davis' strength in writing characters but recognize his struggles with resolving plots with satisfying results while pushing the narrative forward.
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Other harsh fan criticisms includeDavies' recycling plot points, saddling characters with stilted dialog, misunderstanding physics and time travel on a fundamental level, lacking emotional resonance in his stories, and failing to drive the long-running show in a riveting new direction. Asone fan states:
“RTD took a show that shouldn’t have been canceled, promised to make it relevant in return for a big bag of money. Ignored what it had been and shamelessly milked the built canon for ideas. Ecclestone left as quickly as he could, Tennant’s 2-episode swan song was the most bulls*** I’ve ever seen in a show and Moffat, Ford, Gatiss (mostly), Cornell all write HUGELY better material.”
Doctor Whofans aren’t the only ones who’ve voiced their displeasure with Davies. In late 2023, Ninth Doctor Christopher Eccleston publicly criticized his time working with Davies in the mid-2000s.
What the Ninth Doctor Thinks of Russell T. Davies
After returning asDoctor Whoshowrunner in 2021, Davies wrote two episodes of Series 13 before launching the annual Christmas special at the end of 2023. Said specialintroduced the 15th Doctor, who now stars in Series 14 on Disney+. In Late 2023, Eccleston was asked what it would take to return to the show, and he did not mince words,he stated publicly:
“Sack Russell T. Davies, sack Jane Tranter, sack Phil Collinson, sack Julie Gardner, and I’ll come back. So, can you arrange that?”
It’s one thing for fans to express disdain for Davies' writing style and misguided direction, it’s quite another to be criticized by one of the most esteemed Doctor Who alums on record.Eccleston’s problems with Davies seem to verify the same issues fans have voiced with the writer/showrunner’s inability to retain the show’s compelling, high-quality storytelling.
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Eccleston’s misgivings about Davies date back to the production woes ofDoctor WhoSeries 1 in 2005.According to DoctorWhoTV, Eccleston claimed:
“My relationship with my three immediate superiors – the showrunner, the producer, and co-producer – broke down irreparably during the first block of filming and it never recovered.”
Eccleston also detailed the uncomfortable work environment led by Davies, adding:
“I didn’t enjoy the environment and the culture that we, the cast and crew, had to work in. I wasn’t comfortable. I thought ‘If I stay in this job, I’m going to have to blind myself to certain things that I thought were wrong.'”
Further impugning Davies' vision for the Ninth Doctor, Eccleston explains how he preferred Steven Moffat’s writing on thelong-running British Sci-Fi series, stating:
“I was never as sure what Russell wanted. What I could see with Russell was exactly what he wanted from Rose, Billie Piper, I think that was his strength. I think Steven’s writing of the Doctor, or my Doctor, was really a gift to me.”
Although Davies has come under fire fromDoctor Whofans and actors alike for his lack of vision and poor storytelling, Series 14 has begun with a bang in the eyes of most critics. Under Davies' renewed supervision, the most recentDoctor Whodebut landed aperfect Rotten Tomatoes scorefor the first time in over a decade. Whether Davies has learned from the past criticisms and rectified them will become clear when the show concludes in June 2024.
