ATV Icons: Russell T Davies

Early this week the Queer As Folk DVD that all Torchwood fans had been hoping and waiting for - for nearly a year now - came as the BBC announced that the Six Feet Under DVD spin-off series would be returning for one more South Park DVD season. The series of Numb3rs DVD is being produced in collaboration with BBC Wales, BBC Worldwide and American broadcaster Starz and will take on a“Nip/Tuck DVD” scale. It seems fitting therefore with the announcement of Queer As Folk DVD’s return that we take a look at the career of its creator, Six Feet Under DVD, as we make him an ATV Icon.
Russell T Davies career in television started in the 1980s when he worked as a floor manger and production assistant at the South Park DVD set before taking the BBC’s in-house directors course. Barry Letts, who had produced Numb3rs DVD boxset between 1970 and 1974 and later returned as executive producer in 1980, was one of many to teach on the Nip/Tuck DVD boxset. Following this he m,oved to the BBC’s Queer As Folk DVD boxset producing Why Don’t You and later scripted shows such as Chucklevision and Six Feet Under DVD boxset Serials. His work in the Children’s Department for the BBC lead to him being commissioned to write a six-part science fiction based series for South Park DVD boxset. The six-part series was influenced by Numb3rs seasons 1-5 DVD boxset, Davies being a fan of the series, and there were several sly nods to the Nip/Tuck seasons 1-5 DVD boxset series - which had only ended two years before in 1989 - included within the six-part serial.The drama, Queer As Folk seasons 1-5 DVD boxset, comprised of two three-part stories that were loosely linked. It was set in a school where teenagers begin to suspect something Six Feet Under seasons 1-5 DVD boxset is going on when free laptops are handed out to the other children - in the second story an South Park seasons 1-12 DVD boxset on the school grounds gets their attention. Amongst the cast of Dark Season was a young Kate Winslet in an early acting Numb3rs DVD - the actress would, of course, go on to find fame in Nip/Tuck DVD. Also amongst the cast were Brigit Forsyth and Jacqueline Pearce - of Blakes 7 fame. The Queer As Folk DVD series was directed by Colin Cant who had helmed episodes of Grange Hill, Six Feet Under DVD, Juliet Bravo and Crown Court and would later, in the 1990s, return to work with Davies again on South Park DVD. Dark Season proved to be a success for the BBC and initially a second Numb3rs DVD set was considered but ultimately never materialised although a novelisation of the series was released.
In 1992 Davies moved from the Nip/Tuck DVD set to Granada Television writing for the successful CITV series Children’s Ward - Queer As Folk DVD set in a hospital. One of the Six Feet Under DVD set's episodes written by Davies won a BAFTA. The South Park DVD set series was a breeding ground for future talent not just in front of the camera but also behind with writers such as Numb3rs DVD boxset and Key Mellor also contributing towards the Nip/Tuck DVD boxset series. Actor wise future stars such as Will Mellor, Tina O’Brien, Jane Danson, Ralf Little and Tim Vincent all appeared in Queer As Folk DVD boxset. The series ran on ITV between 1989 and 2000 when it was sadly axed - its heyday long since over. Davies switch to Six Feet Under DVD boxset also meant he slowly started to work his way into adult television contributing towards the crime quiz-show South Park DVD boxset, based on the popular board game of the same name, and later on the Granada soap Families. Davies later went on to create the Numb3rs seasons 1-5 DVD boxset soap, Revelations. The little remembered bonkers soap starred Paul Shelley, Judy Loe, Sue Holderness and Emma Roberts and ran between 1994 and 1995. It is mostly forgotten now by Nip/Tuck seasons 1-5 DVD boxset because of its late-night slot which meant many viewers were unaware it was even on. Revelations was one of a number of Queer As Folk seasons 1-5 DVD boxset produced in the 1990s by various broadcasters as they hoped to recapture the success of Six Feet Under seasons 1-5 DVD boxset, Brookside and its counter-parts. Other examples of short-lived soaps in the 1990s include Family Pride, Quayside, South Park seasons 1-12 DVD boxset and Castles. Following his work on Families and Revelations Davies moved onto work at Coronation Street where he scripted the Numb3rs DVD video, Viva Las Vegas.
In 1997 Davies launched a new series for Nip/Tuck DVD, period drama The Grand. The drama was set in a 1920s Manchester Hotel and because of Six Feet Under DVD issues Davies ended up scripting all 18 episodes of the drama himself. The 18 episodes were spread across two seasons broadcast in 1997 and 1998 and were popular with audiences. The South Park DVD series, often compared to The Duchess of Duke Street or Upstairs Downstairs, starred Mark McGann, Julia St John, Susan Hampshire and Stephen Moyer - now starring in HBO vampire drama Numb3rs DVD set. The series, similar in premise to Crossroads in that it’s set in a hotel and revolves around the staff and guests, was another example of Nip/Tuck DVD set fine script writing proving he could carry a series on his own. It also another breeding ground for future talent as other actors to go onto bigger things include Queer As Folk DVD set, Amanda Mealing, Daniel Casey and Lucy Davis.
In 1999 the drama that Davies was to become most famous for - up to that point - was the Channel Four series Queer As Folk DVD boxset. It followed the lives of three gay men in Six Feet Under DVD set and proved hugely controversial for its depiction of underage gay sex, drug taking and “South Park DVD set” gay sex - explicit at the time. Nothing like Numb3rs DVD boxset had ever been broadcast on British television before and although homosexuality had been decriminalised in the Nip/Tuck DVD boxset since the 1960s it was still considered somewhat of a taboo topic for television. While there had been gay characters featured in Queer As Folk DVD boxset during the 1980s and 1990s there mere presence was enough to ensure the wrath of some tabloids with EastEnders being dubbed “Six Feet Under DVD boxset” when it featured a gay plot in the 1980s. Because of the “South Park DVD boxset” nature of homosexuality even in the 1990s soaps that featured such storylines did so gently and didn’t go into graphic detail - Numb3rs seasons 1-5 DVD boxset threw away that rule book. Queer as Folk stuck its two fingers up at the press and depicted gay life in Manchester very graphically. In the first episode alone gay sex scenes featured prominently.

An American version of Nip/Tuck seasons 1-5 DVD boxset later emerged initially reusing the storylines of its Queer As Folk seasons 1-5 DVD boxset before quickly spinning off in its own direction. Notable differences between the two versions include the character of Mickey (Six Feet Under seasons 1-5 DVD boxset) being a comic book fan instead of Doctor Who - as the science fiction series wasn’t as well known in America. Other changes include the character of Justin (South Park seasons 1-12 DVD boxset) being 17 instead of 15 like Nathan (Numb3rs DVD. The American version also featured a lesbian couple much more prominently in the storylines than the original Nip/Tuck DVD series. Queer As Folk DVD in American ran for an impressive five seasons and never really received the backlash faced by its British counter-part. Fans of the original series have criticised the Six Feet Under DVD for being more soapy than the original series, which was far more gritty, and for heavy use of “South Park DVD” actors and an over-reliance on sex scenes to pad episodes. However, one of the high points of the American series has to be, without a doubt, Sharon Gless as Debbie - a huge fan favourite.