Frank Skinner & Russell T Davies: "You're like a gay Shakespeare."

[@ronariverah3909]

I could listen to RTD for hours

[@ellenmurphy2150]

ronariverah I just adore RTD. Just listened to his Dessert Island Disc interview last night. His whole life in 45 minutes.

[@marxistlynchist]

its awesome hearing Russell mention It's a Sin back before it was even commissioned. I felt that the show was a second wind for his career in terms of awareness of his work with a mainstream audience, so its very exciting to have him ride that wave and return to Doctor Who with (hopefully) new and groundbreaking ideas!

[@BabelColour]

Two fantastic, witty, articulate, interesting fellows having a wonderful time discussing what they love, with someone they obviously love too. Heartwarming, engaging and thoroughly enjoyable. Thank you.

[@DavidTraynier]

What a lovely interview. And Frank is correct - Cucumber was an oustanding piece of television and that episode he mentions affected myself and my girlfriend for several days. I can still remember us sitting in silence afterward.

[@michaelpirks843]

David Traynier I totally agree!! I still watch the Cucumber/Banana dvd now. It was a brilliant series and deserved so much more attention! Episode 6 haunted me for a long time. I remember watching it, turning off the telly afterwards and just sat in silence. Never done that with a series before. I really would love to see cucumber changed to a stage show! It would be such a brilliant experience

[@ForwardThinkingTam]

Agreed, just loved Cucumber (and I'm saying this post 'It's a Sin' - wash my mouth out with soap and water, but Cucumber is still my favourite.) It was just so funny, and tragic and ....hapless. Really stuck with me. (Maybe that's something to do with me also being middle aged, tragic and hapless! 😂).

[@lostdaze1145]

Frank is Frank, you wanna know how old he is, just ask him. We are all just a moment in time, one in 7.8 billion ....

[@cjhristine]

Honestly would watch any video RTD is in. Brilliant guy.

[@donnam5891]

Great interview. I must admit when the Doctor Who reboot was coming in 2005 I had butterflies of anticipation in the hopes that it would be true to the original. I also thought that when Chris E uttered 'Run' that everything was going to be fantastic. Glad that Russell is coming back as show runner after Jodie & Chris finish up.

[@danielsf94]

I'm shocked about how little attention Cucumber got, I had never heard about it until I randomly came across it yesterday. I've just watched the whole series on 4OD and... just wow. It was amazing. Frank was right about the Lance focused episode 6. The ending of that episode shook me to the core. After the episode ended, I just sat in silence and welled up, which is something I rarely do. The show felt viscerally real, beautiful and at times horrifying (end of episode 6). This is one of the best shows I've seen in years. Thank you for making it Russell, it was a beautiful story.

[@madophelia4322]

Yes, Cucumber was so good! I think they took it off Channel 4 though; they only have Banana now :^( It's so so good and painfully underrated.

[@matgostyles653]

I really think the name Cucumber had a lot to do with it. It didn't do it justice.

[@ellenmurphy2150]

I love RTD. Such an intelligent man. Where would Doctor Who be now without his rebooting it? Read The Writter's Tale. Interesting behind the scenes Doctor Who stuff.

[@nightowl8477]

I'm reading it now. Bloody brilliant.

[@ellenmurphy2150]

nightowl without RTD I'm sure the reboot wouldn't have last. And he kept the fan boy I'm in charge who cares what came before stuff to a minimum. Stressful stuff rebooting Who.

[@blakefletcher9834]

So much better than Moff

[@ellenmurphy2150]

@@blakefletcher9834 chibnall thinks he's in the same category as RTD but he NEVER will be.

[@dindjarin7185]

@@ellenmurphy2150 never was

[@Meggsie]

A point about Moffat undoing the time war that always miffed me was that he didn't really do anything with bringing the time lord backs. They were still effectively gone.

[@darrendarke]

RTD and Frank Skinner are my two favourites so this is 👌

[@spluff5]

To this day, I still can't listen to Tainted Love without hearing "Refreshment will now be served. Earth death in 30 minutes" at the beginning.

[@LondonCelt]

Can’t wait till he comes back to DW, his era is the one I remember most fondly

[@WelshBathBoy]

I'm here after watching It's a Sin, it amazing hearing him talk about the early stages.

[@tomclifford1951]

An episode of Torchwood had to be delivered, so you went clubbing. So funny. My writing hero. RTD.

[@MythicSuns]

It's interesting that Russell talks about how we all start out as writers when we're children because I was just noticing how with a lot of creative types you often expect the seeds of their amazing creations to be something big and grand to match the creations themselves and then it turns out to be something rather simple or even boring which is almost a perfect behavioural match of what we do as children; we see a washing machine and it becomes a portal to another world, we see a stick and it suddenly becomes a sword of the grandest design, or, a favourite of mine, you see an apple and it becomes a hand grenade with the stalk acting as the pin. I say "creatives" rather than just writers specifically because the harnessing of imagination is something that all creative types use and often times they're all inspired by something that's simple or boring. To toot my own trumpet, I made a song that was simply inspired by that particular shade of blue that the sky turns after the sun has set, I also made one that was simply inspired by this one time when I lied down under a tree as the sun began to set, yeah it's a bit egotistical to use my own stuff as other examples but **shrug** there you go. Honestly I have a hard time believing people who label themselves as "not very creative". I think everyone is creative but can't always recognise it because they're distracted by whatever burdens their personal life is throwing at them.

[@PaulTagliatelle]

Is this the greatest interview ever? Yes.

[@Jake-d8d]

I love hearing about It's A Sin here as a throwaway comment, him saying there's a million ways to tell that story - and he chose the one that broke everybody's heart.

[@martynbutlerOBE]

"and they are all Ian Levene" oh lord I laughed out loud - hahaha

[@kitbrown3895]

I love the fact Frank knows who he is

[@ProfessorKenji]

I'd love these two to get together and do a longer talk about Dr Who

[@aarushicrystalis7998]

i thought shakespeare was the gay shakespeare

[@nightowl8477]

Shakespeare is Shakespeare first and foremost, then he's gay. Russell is *the gay* first and foremost, and a genius writer on the side.

[@redhippopotamus9144]

Shakespeare is bi

[@ryrythomas2788]

Welcome back sir

[@snazzyquizzes2336]

I sat next to Russell T Davies on a bench once. True story.

[@nightowl8477]

You're joking, but I'm properly envious.

[@snazzyquizzes2336]

@@nightowl8477 The strange thing is, I actually thought about him briefly while sitting there, before I got up and saw him, so I might have sub-consciously registered him from the corner of my eye or something.

[@littleripper312]

I liked Cucumber. I can definitely see it not landing well with people 22ish and under. I'm 31 and I could still relate to the main character because I even feel like the old person now sometimes and know it's only going to get worse each year. I don't want to live as a 20 year old anymore but there are times where I wish I could just for a night. I loved how honest it was.

[@TorchwoodPandP]

“Doctor Who is behind everything!”

[@williampugh1489]

He's back

[@nickjanuary7177]

And now he's back 😁😁

[@thedoctorwhoexpert7]

RTD is the best!!!!

[@dindjarin7185]

Damn right there

[@ItsMeHarry]

The fucking Ian Levine name drop made me cry oml

[@animatechap5176]

Im sort of on the peripheral of the dw community, I've heard his name but idk who he is nor what he's done

[@jezzaus2124]

Safe to say Chibnalls era of DW has not quite had the same impact. It's awful.

[@matthewvido3902]

Please come back to writing doctor who :(

[@ellenmurphy2150]

Matthew Vido yes. We need RTD back.

[@donnam5891]

Your wish has been granted.

[@theopond1799]

**laughs in 2022**

[@dindjarin7185]

@@ellenmurphy2150 And he is lol 😆

[@lostdaze1145]

Dang is this The south Bank or Sky Arts .... Young People need Role models more than ever for this day we are all hard in our ways of understanding our Faith our vision thankyou God bless your commitment to the Arts

[@VerdanaVideos]

Shakespeare may very well have been like a gay Shakespeare

[@scottvandenham3620]

"Doctor Who is behind everything!"

[@rationraw5017]

Richard, you’re so tall

[@liliumgalaxy]

He looks younger and younger

[@anonymoussaid9970]

Hes the most normal lookin guy. A real "I could see him at a doctor who convention with a name tag and I'd think he was staff" lookin guy

[@wrennewman6868]

Russell is so entertaining and so animated. Such a good guy. ♥ ♥

[@benfisher1376]

He really isn't.

[@CyberscapeCity]

Yaaaasss Russell return, you have been summoned to fulfill your destiny

[@nightowl8477]

1:20 oh, thank God. I thought he was going to say gorilla.

[@007hippy]

Come back Russell T Davis doctor who needs you

[@twelve8952]

Russell is great - but Doctor Who is doing just fine.

[@sunday1409]

@@twelve8952 no it isn't

[@sunday1409]

@THE DW GEEK yunno i used to despise chris moffat. I was so happy to know that he was leaving and then i hear chris fucking chibnal was to take over. Chris chibnal.

[@sunday1409]

@@LukasOfTheLight my bad, cheers. Agree to disagree

[@sunday1409]

@@twelve8952 im sorry that my opinion offended you but relax son

[@w-james9277]

Come back and save Doctor Who!!!

[@TheValeyard92]

Monsieur Aladdin sir, what will your pleasure be?

[@dindjarin7185]

He's back

[@leif1075]

Sex should not destroy creativity..there should be room for both..

[@avatarzang2674]

This man is a genius. Chibnall and moffat could only wish

[@dindjarin7185]

That's true, lol 😆 but Moffat won more awards for DW than WONDERFUL RUSSELL T DAVIS.

[@amyclarke41]

rtd