Q&A: Russell T Davies talks 'End of Time'
It's arguably the most anticipated story in Doctor Who's 46-year history. This Christmas, David Tennant - recently voted the nation's favourite ever Doctor - will bow out from the show in a two-part special titled 'The End Of Time'. But the adventure, which marks the return of John Simm as The Master, is not only David's swansong. Showrunner Russell T Davies, who successfully masterminded Who's return to the small screen in 2005, is also bowing out. As his final episodes prepare to air, we caught up with RTD to find out how he's feeling.
Apparently you had the last story in mind for ages. Was it easier to write because of that?
"Well nothing’s ever easy to write, and things change as you go along. You should never have things so fixed that they become inflexible. But things have changed, I added characters, and the mood of it changed, but it’s still what I imagined. It’s all done with a great sense of satisfaction. David deserves this, and the programme deserves this, it deserves to go out on a high. The audience deserves it too, they’ve been so faithful to us and loyal and devoted. I don’t mean just the fans, I mean the kids, and the parents who sit with the kids. It’s Christmas and New Year, so you want people to be happy, to sit down and enjoy something together. To laugh, to be sad… It’s all there. It’s like all your Christmas presents rolled into one, right from your big present to the tiny thing at the bottom of the stocking!"
When did you know you were stepping down?
"It’s funny, you’d think I’d know. The BBC wanted me to do five years, which I was always shy about. I’ve actually spent six years, but only five on the programme. We had the break. Five years sounded too long. No-one was forced into anything, and I was in a very lucky position of a company like the BBC saying ‘Well what do you want to do?’ which is so kind and trusting, and an honour in this hectic day and age. Me, Julie, Phil and David sat down and decided it was time. It was never a big grand plan, it was just something that evolved over time and many conversations and dinners and chats. It was hard to think where it was pinpointed. It always felt right though. We just felt it was right."
Do you think you could have continued with the show if David had left before you?
"I always said I’d never work with another Doctor - I’ve worked with two now and that’s enough. Come Easter when Matt arrives, with a whole new team of writers, that will be enormously brilliant for the whole show. There will be eight-year-olds who will take it to their hearts the way eight-year-olds did five years ago with Billie and Chris. I think there’s a generation that’s grown up with us, and there’s a new one waiting for a new Doctor. We probably look like old black and white shows to young kids now. That’s what the show does, it revamps all the time."
How hard is writing a regeneration scene?
"You don’t know if there’s going to be one! Nice try. Well I’ve written two already; one for Chris and a fake one for David. The whole show keeps you on your toes. I can’t promise you anything. You think you’re going to see a regeneration, but I can’t say you’re going to see anything for the reason you think you’re going to see. We get more viewers each year by playing this game with people that we don’t give away too much."
Without giving away too much, how would you describe this final story?
"Well it’ll be emotional because there’s so much love for David and so much empathy. There are also moments of great comedy because Doctor Who should never be tragedy - it’s a great big popular, blockbusting Saturday-night show. So there are still explosions, and monsters and aliens and chases, that’s all there. It’s possibly a more personal story this Christmas. The Doctor has of course been warned he’s going to die so he knows the end is coming, which is exactly the place the audience is up to. Even if you’ve never watched Doctor Who before or just cast a cautious eye over one episode, everyone is going to know this is David’s last episode. Everything is building to that, and that’s quite New Yearsy I think. Part is family and celebration, and then there’s also the part where you raise a glass to everything you’ve done, loved and lost in the past 12 months, but hope for the future. It has that feel to it, that winter fireside feel of taking stock. There’s great sadness, but depth and wisdom, but plenty of aliens and explosions, plus demonic Master activity. It’s just exciting."
The Doctor took a bit of an uncharacteristic turn at the end of 'The Waters Of Mars'. Does that aspect of his personality develop further?
"It’s worth saying he was stopped from going too far when Adelaide committed suicide. It stopped him from becoming power mad, and I don’t know if people get that absolutely. He refers to that twice over Christmas - he really takes stock from that, he’s not untouched by it. It was important to end the story with The Doctor as people have loved him: funny, the bright spark, the hero, the enthusiast. It would be a crying shame if 'Waters Of Mars' became a keynote from now on. It’s not what the kids want, it’s not what I want as a 46-year-old. It’s referred to, but the hero is back for Christmas. And he’s daft, as no other hero can be. Cinema is full of heroes with guns and sweat and machismo, so it’s important to look at his qualities which are his sense of fun, and put that at centre stage."
The Master is back for DT's swansong. How has he changed?
"We’ve got a very different Master this time. He’s back, but he’s dying, so he’s savage and bitter, but he’s powerless too. He has no TARDIS and he's stuck looking like the old Prime Minister so he can’t even walk down the street. He’s in a lowly position for someone who was a Lord of Time, and that makes him tragic. Until he does the most unspeakable things you’ve ever seen at Christmas time. Then you’ll be booing him."
And what of The Master's interaction with The Doctor?
"It’s complicated because he’s The Doctor’s enemy, but now he’s the only other Time Lord in existence, and I’ve always thought in a very strange way these two men love each other - not in a gay way, but they are similar and share a lot. There’s more dialogue between them this time, more conversation. It’s hard to bring them together for long in a scene because each of them will try to stop the other and they won’t stand around talking too much. But I’ve worked hard this time. We learn more about their history, where they want to go. Both of them are heading for death, that’s the important thing. The Doctor knows he’s going to die, The Master is dying. He’s been brought back to life but it hasn’t worked, so both of them are trying to survive while heading to the Immortality Gate. Both in the same situation but at the same time enemies and total opposites. That’s why they’re magical characters. And two of the greatest actors in the land."
'The End Of Time, Part One' airs Christmas Day at 6pm on BBC One in the UK and December 26 at 9pm on BBC America in the US.
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Apparently you had the last story in mind for ages. Was it easier to write because of that?
"Well nothing’s ever easy to write, and things change as you go along. You should never have things so fixed that they become inflexible. But things have changed, I added characters, and the mood of it changed, but it’s still what I imagined. It’s all done with a great sense of satisfaction. David deserves this, and the programme deserves this, it deserves to go out on a high. The audience deserves it too, they’ve been so faithful to us and loyal and devoted. I don’t mean just the fans, I mean the kids, and the parents who sit with the kids. It’s Christmas and New Year, so you want people to be happy, to sit down and enjoy something together. To laugh, to be sad… It’s all there. It’s like all your Christmas presents rolled into one, right from your big present to the tiny thing at the bottom of the stocking!"
When did you know you were stepping down?
"It’s funny, you’d think I’d know. The BBC wanted me to do five years, which I was always shy about. I’ve actually spent six years, but only five on the programme. We had the break. Five years sounded too long. No-one was forced into anything, and I was in a very lucky position of a company like the BBC saying ‘Well what do you want to do?’ which is so kind and trusting, and an honour in this hectic day and age. Me, Julie, Phil and David sat down and decided it was time. It was never a big grand plan, it was just something that evolved over time and many conversations and dinners and chats. It was hard to think where it was pinpointed. It always felt right though. We just felt it was right."
Do you think you could have continued with the show if David had left before you?
"I always said I’d never work with another Doctor - I’ve worked with two now and that’s enough. Come Easter when Matt arrives, with a whole new team of writers, that will be enormously brilliant for the whole show. There will be eight-year-olds who will take it to their hearts the way eight-year-olds did five years ago with Billie and Chris. I think there’s a generation that’s grown up with us, and there’s a new one waiting for a new Doctor. We probably look like old black and white shows to young kids now. That’s what the show does, it revamps all the time."
How hard is writing a regeneration scene?
"You don’t know if there’s going to be one! Nice try. Well I’ve written two already; one for Chris and a fake one for David. The whole show keeps you on your toes. I can’t promise you anything. You think you’re going to see a regeneration, but I can’t say you’re going to see anything for the reason you think you’re going to see. We get more viewers each year by playing this game with people that we don’t give away too much."
Without giving away too much, how would you describe this final story?
"Well it’ll be emotional because there’s so much love for David and so much empathy. There are also moments of great comedy because Doctor Who should never be tragedy - it’s a great big popular, blockbusting Saturday-night show. So there are still explosions, and monsters and aliens and chases, that’s all there. It’s possibly a more personal story this Christmas. The Doctor has of course been warned he’s going to die so he knows the end is coming, which is exactly the place the audience is up to. Even if you’ve never watched Doctor Who before or just cast a cautious eye over one episode, everyone is going to know this is David’s last episode. Everything is building to that, and that’s quite New Yearsy I think. Part is family and celebration, and then there’s also the part where you raise a glass to everything you’ve done, loved and lost in the past 12 months, but hope for the future. It has that feel to it, that winter fireside feel of taking stock. There’s great sadness, but depth and wisdom, but plenty of aliens and explosions, plus demonic Master activity. It’s just exciting."
The Doctor took a bit of an uncharacteristic turn at the end of 'The Waters Of Mars'. Does that aspect of his personality develop further?
"It’s worth saying he was stopped from going too far when Adelaide committed suicide. It stopped him from becoming power mad, and I don’t know if people get that absolutely. He refers to that twice over Christmas - he really takes stock from that, he’s not untouched by it. It was important to end the story with The Doctor as people have loved him: funny, the bright spark, the hero, the enthusiast. It would be a crying shame if 'Waters Of Mars' became a keynote from now on. It’s not what the kids want, it’s not what I want as a 46-year-old. It’s referred to, but the hero is back for Christmas. And he’s daft, as no other hero can be. Cinema is full of heroes with guns and sweat and machismo, so it’s important to look at his qualities which are his sense of fun, and put that at centre stage."
The Master is back for DT's swansong. How has he changed?
"We’ve got a very different Master this time. He’s back, but he’s dying, so he’s savage and bitter, but he’s powerless too. He has no TARDIS and he's stuck looking like the old Prime Minister so he can’t even walk down the street. He’s in a lowly position for someone who was a Lord of Time, and that makes him tragic. Until he does the most unspeakable things you’ve ever seen at Christmas time. Then you’ll be booing him."
And what of The Master's interaction with The Doctor?
"It’s complicated because he’s The Doctor’s enemy, but now he’s the only other Time Lord in existence, and I’ve always thought in a very strange way these two men love each other - not in a gay way, but they are similar and share a lot. There’s more dialogue between them this time, more conversation. It’s hard to bring them together for long in a scene because each of them will try to stop the other and they won’t stand around talking too much. But I’ve worked hard this time. We learn more about their history, where they want to go. Both of them are heading for death, that’s the important thing. The Doctor knows he’s going to die, The Master is dying. He’s been brought back to life but it hasn’t worked, so both of them are trying to survive while heading to the Immortality Gate. Both in the same situation but at the same time enemies and total opposites. That’s why they’re magical characters. And two of the greatest actors in the land."
'The End Of Time, Part One' airs Christmas Day at 6pm on BBC One in the UK and December 26 at 9pm on BBC America in the US.
Source