Russell T. Davies Talks Who at the Times
“How ridiculous would it be that you would travel through time and space and only ever find heterosexual men?”
— Jane Tranter, head of BBC fiction
This past weekend, The New York Times published a wonderful interview with the man behind the new Doctor Who, Russell T. Davies. The article focuses largely on Davies’ inclusion of homeosexual themes as related to the Captain Jack character and Torchwood.
He talks about being verbally assaulted by a woman at a party for having Jack kiss the Doctor on the lips on a Who episode and his reaction to her reaction. There are quotes from John Barrowman and from the higher ups at the BBC who say they never thought twice about the sexual content of Torchwood.
It’s a fascinating read. It’s “The Man Behind the New Doctor Who: Changing British TV ” by Sarah Lyall at NYTimes.com.
The amount of sexuality in Dr. Who is at a minimum, which is right where I like it. The series is obviously a romantic one as we are talking about the oldest and loneliest man in the universe, but it doesn’t need to be a soap opera that focuses on sex or sexuality. It’s about relationships. This approach is what makes Dr. Who great, and Torchwood abyssmal.