Summary
Russell T Davies is a British showrunner, screenwriter, and producer widely regarded as one of the most influential television creators of his generation. He began his career at Children’s BBC, where he started writing television dramas such as Century Falls and science-fiction serial, Dark Season (1991), featuring a young Kate Winslet. After writing for Coronation Street and ITV drama The Grand (1997), he achieved breakthrough success with Queer as Folk (1999), a landmark series that transformed LGBTQ+ representation on television. In 2005, Davies revived Doctor Who, turning the classic series into a global success and winning the BAFTA Award for Best Drama Series. He also created spin-offs Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures, expanding the Doctor Who universe for new audiences. His later work includes the trilogy Cucumber, Banana and Tofu (2015) and the ambitious political drama Years and Years (2019), starring Emma Thompson, a visionary dystopian series that prefigured our current troubled times. He followed this with the critically acclaimed It’s a Sin (2021), depicting the lives of young gay men during the UK AIDS crisis, and Nolly, starring Helena Bonham Carter, which premiered at Series Mania in 2023. Davies has received numerous honours, including the BAFTA Dennis Potter Award (2006), an OBE for services to drama (2008), and lifetime achievement awards from the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain and the Royal Television Society.
As this year’s Guest of Honour at Series Mania, he joins audiences to revisit key milestones of his career through selected clips and to discuss his forthcoming series Tip Toe.
