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129-516: The Slitheen are a fictional family of Raxacoricofallapatorians, massive, bipedal extraterrestrials , from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who . They are adversaries of the Ninth Doctor and later Sarah Jane Smith . The Slitheen are a family of egg-laying calcium -based aliens from the fictional planet Raxacoricofallapatorius. Though their family name is Slitheen, their species

258-508: A Channel 4 series about middle-aged gay men in the Manchester gay scene; Banana , an E4 series about young LGBT people in the Cucumber universe; and Tofu , an All 4 documentary series which discussed LGBT issues. Davies's later work for BBC One in the 2010s include A Midsummer Night's Dream , a television film adaptation of William Shakespeare 's play ; A Very English Scandal ,

387-454: A Royal Television Society Award. In the time near his mother's death, Davies returned to Swansea several times and reflected on the role of family. During one visit, he realised he had not yet written a series set in Wales; hence, he created a series about a family who discovers they own the entire city of Swansea. The Vivaldi Inheritance , later renamed Mine All Mine , was based on the tale of

516-470: A calcified foetus in her uterus. Davies continued to propose dramas to Channel 4. The next drama to be commissioned was Springhill , an apocalyptic soap-opera, co-created by Frank Cottrell Boyce and Paul Abbott , which aired simultaneously on Sky One and Channel 4 in 1996–97. Set in suburban Liverpool, the series focuses on the devoutly Catholic Freeman family and their encounter and conflict with Eva Morrigan (Katharine Rogers). He storylined for

645-419: A football -themed daily strip; he declined because he was concerned about the pornographic content of the newspaper. He submitted a script for Crossroads in response to an appeal for new writers; it was not used because the show was cancelled in 1987. He ultimately abandoned his graphic art career entirely when he realised in his early twenties that he enjoyed writing the dialogue of a comic more than creating

774-501: A green room . The series was the only Red–Davies collaboration not to be scored by future Doctor Who composer Murray Gold ; the soundtrack was a Martin Phipps composition inspired by Hans Zimmer 's work on the 1993 film True Romance . It aired on Monday nights in September and October 2001. Critically acclaimed, the series won two British Comedy Awards , and received a nomination at

903-418: A " devil worshipping Nazi lesbian", who becomes a part of the ancient supercomputer Behemoth. The two distinct plot elements converge at the end of the fifth episode, when Pendragon crashes through the school stage as Eldritch walks into the auditorium. Dark Season uses concepts seen in his tenure as executive producer of Doctor Who : " School Reunion ", written by Toby Whithouse , shares its concept of

1032-498: A Sin (2021) and Nolly (2023). Born in Swansea , Davies had aspirations as a comic artist before focusing on being a playwright and screenwriter. After graduating from Oxford University , he joined the BBC's children's department, CBBC , in 1985 on a part-time basis and held various positions, which included creating two series, Dark Season and Century Falls . He eventually left

1161-503: A bus run by a company whose management donated millions to keeping the law on the books; the scene directly parallels protests against the transport company Stagecoach due to their founder Brian Souter 's financial and political support of Section 28—at one point, Davies intended to explicitly name Stagecoach in the script— and is inspired by earlier protests undertaken by the LGBT rights pressure group OutRage! . After successfully pitching

1290-661: A child, Davies was almost always referred to by his middle name. He grew up in a household that "never switched the TV off" until after closedown , and he subsequently became immersed in dramas such as I, Claudius and Doctor Who . One of his first memories, at the age of three, was the 1966 Doctor Who serial The Tenth Planet . He was also an avid cartoonist and comics enthusiast, and purchased series such as Asterix and Peanuts . Davies attended Tycoch Primary School in Sketty and enrolled at Olchfa School aged 11. In his first year,

1419-512: A contemporary secondary school, Reet ( Kate Winslet ), Marcie (Victoria Lambert), and Tom (Ben Chandler), who discover a plot by the villain Mr Eldritch (Grant Parsons) to take over the world using school computers. Eldritch is eventually defeated by Marcie and the computer expert Professor Polzinsky ( Rosalie Crutchley ). The next three episodes focus on a new villain: the archaeologist Miss Pendragon ( Jacqueline Pearce ), later described by Davies as

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1548-450: A finale set in an ultra-liberal dystopian future where premarital sex and homosexuality are embraced by the Church. Boyce later commented that without Davies' input, the show would have been a "dry run" for Abbott's hit show Shameless . Davies' next project was The Grand , a period soap drama set in a Manchester hotel during the interwar period . It was designed to be a valuable show in

1677-520: A large portion of the fifth episode because the crew expressed concerns with its pacing. The series was filmed in late 2003 under the direction of Sheree Folkson and Tim Whitby, and utilised many areas of Swansea which Davies was familiar with since his childhood. It aired as four-hour-long episodes and a ninety-minute finale on Thursday nights preceding Christmas 2003. Eventually, Mine All Mine would be his least successful series and ended its run with just over two million viewers, which he later blamed on

1806-473: A lesbian vicar portrayed by Sue Holderness , who came out of the closet in a two-hander episode with Carole Nimmons. Davies attributes the revelation about Holderness's character as a consequence of both the "pressure cooker nature" of the show and the recent ordination of female vicars in the Church of England . He let his contract with Granada expire and pitched a new early-evening soap opera to Channel 4 , RU , with its creator Bill Moffat, Sandra Hastie,

1935-467: A miniseries adaptation of John Preston's novel of the same name ; and Years and Years , a drama series which follows a Manchester family affected by political, economic, and technological changes to Britain over 15 years. Davies returned to Channel 4 for a third time in 2021 as creator of It's a Sin , a semi-autobiographical drama about the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. Stephen Russell Davies

2064-513: A multi-episode about the chambermaid, Monica Jones ( Jane Danson ), who kills her rapist in self-defence, is arrested, and eventually hanged for murder. The show was renewed for a second series despite the first's dark tone. The second series had a lighter tone and greater emphasis on character development, which Davies attributed to his friend Sally, who had previously warned him of the adult humour in Breakfast Serials ; she told him his show

2193-464: A particular appeal for younger viewers and were a part of the first series of Doctor Who's revival, it was felt that they were an ideal monster to include in the series, and they also established the connection with Doctor Who. In an early draft of " The Gift ," the Slitheen had a bigger role, aiding the human characters in stopping the spread of "Yorrum Grass" (an earlier version of the "Rakweed" used in

2322-399: A pastiche of Grease , as Nathan took the role as the leader of the Manchester scene's next generation. The show ended on 22 February 2000. On the heels of the special, Davies pitched the spin-off Misfits (no relation to the 2009 E4 series of the same name ), a late-night soap opera set in a boarding house owned by Vince's mother, Hazel, and The Second Coming , a series which depicted

2451-579: A poisoned dart that is formed in their finger and then fired, and an exhalation of poisoned breath. Members of the Slitheen family have green skin, though there is variation in the skin tone of other Raxacoricofallapatorian families. In The Sarah Jane Adventures serial The Gift , members of the Slitheen-Blathereen family group are seen to have orange skin. The Slitheen also have hyphenated surnames, which allow The Doctor to deduce their planet of origin. The Slitheen disguise themselves by crawling into

2580-607: A producer on Moffat's previous series Press Gang , and co-writer Paul Cornell . Although the slot was eventually taken by Hollyoaks , he and Cornell mutually benefited from the pitch: Davies introduced Cornell to the Children's Ward producers and established contact with Moffat's son Steven , and Cornell introduced Davies to Virgin Publishing . Davies wrote one Doctor Who Virgin New Adventures novel, Damaged Goods , in which

2709-421: A rare magazine. In the dénouement of the episode, the child recounts the tale of his near abduction and describes his attacker as "just a man like any other man". The episode earned Davies his first Children's BAFTA award for Best Drama. During his production tenure on Children's Ward , Davies continued to seek other freelance writing jobs, particularly for soap operas ; his intention was to eventually work on

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2838-438: A ratings war with the BBC and was scheduled at 9 pm on a Friday night. After the original writer abandoned the series, Granada approached him to write the entire show. His scripts for the first series reflect the pessimism of the period; each episode added its own emotional trauma on the staff; these included a soldier's execution for desertion, a destitute maid who threatened to illegally abort her unborn child to survive, and

2967-406: A review of "Aliens of London," criticized the Slitheen, as well as the concept behind their compression fields, stating that "The Slitheen will never work for me. It speaks volumes that the costumes were often reused in the more child-oriented The Sarah Jane Adventures and have been left to rot since Steven Moffat took over Doctor Who ." Arnold T. Blumburg, writing for Now Playing , highlighted

3096-460: A series for Channel 4 which reflected the "hedonistic lifestyle" of the gay quarter of Manchester he was leaving behind. Encouraged by ex-Granada executives Catriona MacKenzie and Gub Neil to "go gay", the series focused on a group of friends in Manchester's gay scene, tentatively titled The Other End of the Ballroom , and later, Queer as Fuck . By February 1998, when he completed the first draft for

3225-509: A several-month relationship with fellow youth actor Rhian Morgan. He later came out as homosexual in his teenage years. In 1979, Davies completed his O-Levels and stayed at Olchfa with the ambition to study English literature at the University of Oxford ; he abandoned his aspirations of becoming a comic artist after a careers advisor convinced him that his colour-blindness would make that path unlikely. During his studies, he participated in

3354-532: A soap opera about footmen in Buckingham Palace , was so poorly received his other scripts for the show would be written under the pseudonym Leo Vaughn. In 1994, Davies relinquished all of his producing jobs, and was offered a scriptwriting role on the late-night soap opera Revelations , created by him, Tony Wood , and Brian B. Thompson . The series was a tongue-in-cheek deconstruction of organised religion, and featured his first overtly homosexual character:

3483-533: A storytelling illustrator before he walked off the set and commented he was "not doing that again". The appearance remains an in-joke in the industry, and the recordings were invariably requested for wrap parties Davies attended. On Why Don't You? , Davies held various jobs including: researcher, director, illustrator, assistant floor manager and unofficial publicist for fan-mail. He was offered his first professional scriptwriting job in 1986 by producer Dave Evans; he had entered Evans's office to collect his wages and

3612-428: A traditional love story and gave the couple the traditionally British names of Bob Gossage and Rose Cooper. To simulate a classic love story, the plot required antagonists, in the form of Bob's best friend and fellow teacher Holly Vance and Rose's boyfriend Andy Lewis ( Daniel Ryan ). While Andy, named after Davies' boyfriend Andrew Smith, was a minor character and departed in the third episode, Holly featured throughout

3741-616: Is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for being the original showrunner and head writer of the 2005 revival of the BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who , from 2005 to 2010 and again since 2023. His other notable works include creating the series Queer as Folk (1999–2000), Bob & Rose (2001), The Second Coming (2003), Casanova (2005), Doctor Who spin-offs Torchwood (2006–2011) and The Sarah Jane Adventures (2007–2011), Cucumber (2015), A Very English Scandal (2018), Years and Years (2019), It's

3870-497: Is also overcome by the newer technology in The Lost Boy . When the Slitheen are in their skin suits, they break wind loudly; they call this the gas exchange. This can also be caused by over-eating. In The Gift, Sarah Jane and the gang destroy their source of food, a plant called Rackweed, which is native to Raxacoricofallapatorius. The Rackweed, when digested, is in their stomachs. Using the audio of every audio-producing device in

3999-464: Is named Raxacoricofallapatorians. The Slitheen are instinctive hunters, who are trained from a young age to be ruthless criminals whose main motivation is profit. They were convicted in their home world and are not willing to return to their planet in fear of receiving a death sentence . The Slitheen first appeared in the 2005 series episodes " Aliens of London " and "World War Three" , and subsequently recur in later episodes of both Doctor Who and

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4128-513: The British Academy Television Awards . However, the series had lower viewership than expected and was moved to a later timeslot for the final two episodes. Although the series was not as successful as he hoped, the show helped Davies rekindle his relationship with his mother shortly before her death, just after the transmission of the fourth episode, which he sees as "possibly the best thing [he has] ever written". Shortly after

4257-470: The Doctor tracks a Class A drug tainted by Time Lord technology across several galaxies. The book includes several themes which Davies would intersperse in his later works—including a family called "Tyler" and companion Chris Cwej participating in casual homosexual sex— and a subplot formed the inspiration for The Mother War , a proposed but never produced thriller for Granada about a woman, Eva Jericho, and

4386-503: The Doctor Who job; and the second, a dramatisation of the life of the Venetian adventurer and lover Giacomo Casanova , was his next show with Red Productions. Davies' association with Casanova began when London Weekend Television producers Julie Gardner , Michele Buck, and Damien Timmer approached him to write a 21st-century adaptation of Casanova's memoirs . He accepted to script

4515-574: The Second Coming of Christ in contemporary Manchester. Misfits was rejected in December 2000 and The Second Coming was initially approved by Channel 4 but later rejected after a change of executive personnel. Instead of contesting the cancellation of The Second Coming , he left Channel 4 and vowed to not work with them again. Shindler continued to pitch The Second Coming to other television networks while Davies sought other ventures. His next series

4644-657: The Tenth Doctor ) of being a Slitheen in disguise in the 2005 Children in Need mini-episode and the Doctor makes a passing reference to the Slitheen and their skin-suits in " The Runaway Bride ". In the 2006 series episode " Love & Monsters ", an alien called the Abzorbaloff , whose natural form is similar to that of the Slitheen, claims to be from Raxacoricofallapatorius's twin planet Clom. The Slitheen spaceship from "Aliens of London"

4773-556: The United Nations to allow the United Kingdom to use its nuclear arsenal against the alien "massive weapons of destruction". Before the Slitheen could receive the launch codes, the Ninth Doctor arranged for a Harpoon missile to demolish 10 Downing Street , ending the scheme and killing all but one of them who managed to escape through an emergency teleport. Jocrassa's sister Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen , who had assumed

4902-588: The Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors . The plot of Century Falls is driven by a legend that no children had been born in the eponymous village for more than forty years. The protagonist, Tess Hunter (Catherine Sanderson), is an overweight teenager who moves to the village with her mother at the beginning of the serial. She quickly befriends the psychic Ben Naismith ( Simon Fenton ) and his twin sister Carey (Emma Jane Lavin). The three teenagers examine

5031-457: The interwar period ; and Queer as Folk recreated his experiences in the Manchester gay scene . His work in the 2000s included Bob & Rose , which portrayed a gay man who fell in love with a woman; The Second Coming , which focused on the second coming and deicide of Jesus Christ from a mostly non-religious point of view; Mine All Mine , a comedy about a family who discover they own

5160-516: The "heart" of the TARDIS , regressed to an egg. The Doctor took the egg to the hatcheries on Raxacoricofallapatorius so she could be given a second chance at life and be raised by a peaceful Raxacoricofallapatorian family. Some years after the events of "World War Three", in Revenge of the Slitheen (set in either 2008 or 2009) another group of Slitheen infiltrated a construction company with plans to turn off

5289-527: The BBC Radio 4 presenter —and the first series he was commissioned to write a novelisation: it features a more ambiguous climax and foreshadows a sequel set in an arcade similar to the one featured in The Sarah Jane Adventures serial, Warriors of Kudlak . Davies started planning a second series for Dark Season, which followed a similar structure. The first half of the series would take part in

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5418-462: The BBC for Granada Television , and in 1994 began writing adult television drama. His early scripts generally explored concepts of religion and sexuality among various backdrops: Revelations was a soap opera about organised religion and featured a lesbian vicar; Springhill was a soap drama about a Catholic family in contemporary Liverpool ; The Grand explored society's opinion of subjects such as prostitution, abortion and homosexuality during

5547-512: The Doctor and Rose defeat an attempted Blathereen takeover of the system, the Slitheen are pleased to see they can once again become the profit-holders of their race. The Blathereen were mentioned again in the Sarah Jane Adventures episode Revenge of the Slitheen . In the Series 3 finale of The Sarah Jane Adventures , The Gift , a pair of Slitheen-Blathereen from an intermarried line of

5676-592: The Doctor is asked if he has ever had a dream, he claims to have a recurring one in which a Slitheen on a rocking horse chases him. The Slitheen appear as a sketch in John Smith's " A Journal of Impossible Things " in the episode " Human Nature ". The scribbled words by the drawing note that "it's always for money." In the Torchwood episode " Reset ", a newspaper clipping of Blon posing as Margaret Blaine, previously seen in " Boom Town ", can be seen as Martha Jones enters

5805-622: The Giants . He decided to leave CBBC during the production of Breakfast Serials : a friend called him after the first episode was transmitted and observed he had "broadcast a joke about the juvenilia of Emily Brontë at eight o'clock in the morning"; the conversation caused him to reflect he was writing for the wrong audience. Davies worked as a writer on three more children's series while he pursued an adult drama career, creating Dark Season and Century Falls , and writing for Children's Ward . During his tenure on Why Don't You? , Davies oversaw

5934-562: The Hub. The Doctor Who website" features a segment called Captain Jack 's Monster Files, narrated by John Barrowman , which provides information about alien species. An episode focusing on the Slitheen shows a family tree that refers to a number of related families, all with the suffix, -een , with the exception of the 'Absorbalovian Rebels', referring to the Absorbaloff from " Love & Monsters , from

6063-507: The ITV children's medical drama Children's Ward under the supervision of eventual Coronation Street producer Tony Wood and his former boss Ed Pugh. By 1992, he had been promoted to producer and oversaw an increase in discussion of larger contemporary issues. In 1993, he wrote a script about a teenage boy who had been infected with HIV via a blood transfusion, which challenged the prevalent assumption only gay people contracted HIV: Davies left

6192-572: The Moon when his ship was sent up by a fountain, which was peopled and at war with the people of the Sun over colonisation of the Morning Star. The way people have thought about extraterrestrials is tied to the development of actual sciences. One of the first steps in the history of astronomy was to realize that the objects seen in the night sky were not gods or lights, but physical objects like Earth. This notion

6321-613: The Ninth Doctor and Rose are arrested in the Justicia System in the year 2501, the Doctor shares a cell with Dram Fel-Fotch and Ecktosca Fel-Fotch Happen-Bar Slitheen, who claim that after the Earth incident, the remnants of the family went bankrupt and had become historians. The Slitheen had not actually given up business and were in conflict with a more influential family, the Blathereen. When

6450-609: The Slitheen Parliament of Raxacoricofallapatorius in " The Christmas Invasion " (though her impromptu speech was a pastiche of phrases she had picked up on her travels with the Doctor). A member of the Slitheen was captured by the Graske in the mini-episode " Attack of the Graske ," and later fought back against its captor after being freed. Rose accused the Doctor (after his regeneration into

6579-438: The Slitheen costumes as "nicely designed monsters," though criticized the usage of zippers on their in universe skin suits, as well as the childish humor surrounding the Slitheen. Alasdair Wilkins, writing for The AV Club , defended the Slitheen's associated fart humor, but criticized how the two-parter doesn't "...take the Slitheen themselves seriously," citing his disappointment, "...because there’s plenty of intelligence in how

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6708-710: The Sun and destroy Earth by draining the world's energy to avenge the deaths of the Pasameer-Days. It is mentioned that the Judoon have begun to force out the Slitheen and that the various other Raxacoricofallapatorian families have been working against them. The families Blathereen and Hostrazeen are mentioned as part of the Raxacoricofallapatorian ruling bodies: the Senate and the Grand Council. After their Commander, Glune,

6837-469: The Vivaldi siblings Leo and Maria; Hi-de-Hi! actress Ruth Madoc as Val's sister Myrtle Jones; and Jason Hughes as Maria's boyfriend Gethin. The series, specifically the family's composition of two daughters and a gay son, mirrored his own upbringing to the point where Davies and his boyfriend referred to the show as "The Private Joke". The series was originally written in six parts, but Davies excised

6966-565: The WGYT and signed up for a course in Theatre Studies at Cardiff University after he graduated from Oxford. He worked sporadically for the Sherman Theatre 's publicity department and claimed unemployment benefit in the interim. In 1985, Davies began his professional television career after a friend suggested he should talk to a television producer who was seeking a temporary graphic artist for

7095-562: The WGYTC's assignments to create Welsh language drama to be performed at the National Eisteddfod of Wales ; two such productions were Pair Dadeni , a play based on the Mabinogion myth cycle, and Perthyn , a drama about community belonging and identity in early-1980s West Glamorgan. In 1981, he was accepted by Worcester College, Oxford to study English literature. At Oxford, he realised he

7224-470: The Waterfront ; and accompanied Keith Chegwin to Norway to assist in the production of a children's documentary about politics. The head of CBBC, Ed Pugh, offered him the chance to produce Breakfast Serials , a new series scheduled for an 8:00 am slot. Breakfast Serials incorporated elements of non-sequitur comedy and popular culture references aimed at older children, such as a parody of Land of

7353-537: The Welsh pirate Robert Edwards and his descendants' claim to 77 acres (310,000 m ) of real estate in Lower Manhattan , New York City. The series was a departure from his trend of experimental social commentary; it was instead designed to be a mainstream comedy which utilised Welsh actors: Davies and Red Productions even planned a cameo appearance by Academy Award -winning Swansea-born Catherine Zeta-Jones . Because

7482-456: The aliens made by the Hills, with oversized heads, big eyes, pale grey skin, and small noses captivated the public imagination and was later used by TV shows and films. This started the grey alien archetype. According to Wade Roush, a science and technology writer, "The standard depiction of aliens at that point became the little grey man. So, when Steven Spielberg came along and made probably what are

7611-456: The antagonist using computers in a comprehensive school to take over the world; " Army of Ghosts " unexpectedly brings together the series' two major villains for the final episode; and the characters of Marcie and her friends are similar, albeit unintentionally, to the structure of the Doctor and their companions . Dark Season was the first series he was credited as "Russell T Davies"—the initial arbitrarily chosen to distinguish himself from

7740-512: The arcade mentioned in the novelisation, and the second would feature the appearance of psychic twins and the re-emergence of the villain Eldritch. The concepts were transferred to its spiritual successor, Century Falls , which was produced in 1993 at the request of Dark Season director Colin Cant . The series primarily used the "psychic twins" concept and was set in an isolated village based on those in

7869-412: The art. On 1 June 1987, Davies made his first and only appearance as a television presenter on Play School alongside regular presenter Chloe Ashcroft . Why Don't You? line producer Peter Charlton suggested that he would "be good on camera" and advised him to take his career public. Davies was granted the opportunity for sporadic appearances over a period of six months; he hosted only one episode as

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7998-412: The character Nathan, aged 15, in sexual intercourse with an older man; the broadcasting watchdog Ofcom received 136 complaints and the series received criticism from Hunnam's parents and from activist Mary Whitehouse . The controversy was amplified when the sponsor Beck's withdrew after several episodes and homosexual activists complained the series was not representative of gay culture. Nevertheless,

8127-408: The character, he selected the eleventh episode of Series One to focus on it, which eventually became "Boom Town." As the costumes and CGI models already existed, very little strain was placed on the budget, allowing for a climactic finishing sequence in the episode. Davies initially pitched the idea of The Sarah Jane Adventures with the idea of "Sarah Jane versus the Slitheen." As the monsters held

8256-586: The children's show Why Don't You? . Davies was taken as a member of the BBC Wales children's department ( CBBC ) in 1985 and given one-day contracts and commissions, such as illustrating for Why Don't You? . As he was only given three days of work per month by the BBC, he continued to freelance and volunteer for the Sherman Theatre. In 1986, he was approached by the Sunday Sport before its launch to provide

8385-440: The comic relief of the series. Although well received, the series' ratings were not high enough to warrant a third series. After its cancellation in September 1997, Davies had an existential crisis after almost dying from an accidental overdose; the experience persuaded him to detoxify and make a name for himself by producing a series which celebrated his homosexuality. After his near-death experience, Davies started to develop

8514-462: The command of Korst, who planned to avenge the deaths of his family. Another Slitheen (who was either a child or a short adult) appeared in the 2009 special " From Raxacoricofallapatorius with Love ", masquerading as a galactic diplomat in an attempt to steal Sarah Jane's robot dog K-9 . The Slitheen appeared in the New Series Adventures novel The Monsters Inside by Stephen Cole . When

8643-421: The concept with her. The BBC agreed to fund the series, but could only release the money required if a regionally based independent company produced the series. Davies turned to Shindler, who agreed to become the serial's fifth executive producer. Davies' script takes place in two distinct time frames and required two different actors for the eponymous role: the older Casanova was portrayed by Peter O'Toole , and

8772-425: The condemned into a cauldron of acetic acid, heated to boiling. The acidity dissolves the skin, causing the internal organs to drop into the liquid while the condemned is still alive, reducing them to "soup" in a slow and painful death. In "World War Three," when a single Slitheen was electrocuted, the effects were transmitted to other Slitheen, even those across the city. Writer and showrunner Russell T Davies based

8901-414: The costumes were discovered to have many limitations, leading to the team electing to avoid a hybrid approach of costumes and CGI for future episodes. Davies was impressed by Annette Badland 's performance as Blon Fel-Fotch Pasameer-Day Slitheen during the production of "Aliens of London" and "World War Three," and asked her if she would be willing to return to the programme for the future. Seeking to revisit

9030-410: The critical success of Bob & Rose encouraged the channel to commission the series for broadcast. The Second Coming had been several years in the making and endured many rewrites from the first draft presented to Channel 4 in 2000, but retained its key concept of a depiction of the Second Coming of Christ with a humanity-centred deity. A major removal from the script, due to time constraints,

9159-400: The dark stuff": In a BAFTA interview with Davies, Home recalled she "very nearly got into trouble because it did actually push at the boundaries which some of the powers-that-be would rather not have been pushed". The series offered a sense of realism in its protagonist, who is not heroic and aspirational, has poor social skills, and is bluntly described by Ben as a "fat girl". Century Falls

9288-409: The entire city of Swansea; and Casanova , an adaptation of the complete memoirs of Venetian adventurer Giacomo Casanova . Following the show's sixteen-year hiatus, Davies revived and ran Doctor Who for the period between 2005 and 2010, with Christopher Eccleston and later David Tennant in the title role. Davies's tenure as executive producer of the show saw a surge in popularity which led to

9417-423: The entirety of the series. Bob & Rose thus followed a similar format to Queer as Folk , in particular, the triumvirate of main characters composed of a couple and an outsider who lived in contemporary Manchester, and inverted the traditional " coming out " story by focusing on Bob's uncharacteristic attraction to Rose; Bob describes his sexual life by simply speaking the line "I fancy men. And her." The series

9546-410: The episode would play as an allegorized dramatization of the 9/11 conspiracy theory presented by Thierry Meyssan in the book L’Effroyable Imposture ." A physics paper for The University of Leicester calculated the force of the Slitheen's compression fields. Extraterrestrial life in popular culture The 2nd century writer of satires, Lucian, in his True History claims to have visited

9675-497: The fall of God, was given to Lesley Sharp after her performance in Bob & Rose , and the role of the Devil was given to Mark Benton . The Second Coming was controversial from its conception. When it was a Channel 4 project, it was the subject of a Sunday Express article a year before its original projected transmission date of late 2001. The series would again receive criticism when it

9804-491: The fictional pressure group Parents Against Homophobia (PAH), led by Bob's mother Monica ( Penelope Wilton ), an ardent gay rights activist, and their campaign to repeal Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 , which prohibited local authorities from "intentionally promot[ing]" homosexuality. The subplot climaxes in the fourth episode, when Monica and Bob lead a rally into direct action by handcuffing themselves to

9933-566: The fifth and final series of The Sarah Jane Adventures . Davies returned as Doctor Who showrunner in October 2022 after the departure of Chris Chibnall ; the first episodes of his second tenure are the show's sixtieth anniversary specials in 2023. After his partner developed cancer in late 2011, Davies returned to the UK. He co-created the CBBC science fantasy drama Wizards vs Aliens , and created Cucumber ,

10062-668: The final episode) before betraying them to the Blathereen. The Blathereen themselves were thought to be a cost-saving measure, as a simple repaint of the Slitheen costumes, but new costumes ended up being constructed for the Blathereen regardless. When they first appeared in "Aliens of London" (set in 2006), the Pasameer-Day branch of the Slitheen had been in Great Britain for some time, having infiltrated various levels of British society, from community leaders and military personnel to mid-level politicians and government officials. Their intent

10191-607: The idea of a family of antagonists around the Aubertides from the Virgin New Adventures novel " Human Nature. " The decision to have the Slitheen invade Downing Street was inspired by the Girls Aloud " Jump " music video. In pre-production of the episodes, it was decided for the Slitheen to appear both as physical costumes and as CGI models. However, it was later found that the costumes did not match their CGI counterparts, and

10320-482: The identity of Margaret Blaine of MI5 , survived and reappeared in the episode " Boom Town ". In the intervening six months, "Blaine" was elected as Lord Mayor of Cardiff and planned to leave Earth by using the energy from a new nuclear power station to interact with the Cardiff Rift , unconcerned that the planet would be destroyed in the process. Blon was stopped by the Doctor and his companions, and on exposure to

10449-418: The latter influenced him so much he could "see it echoing in anything" he wrote. At age 14, he auditioned for and joined the newly formed West Glamorgan Youth Theatre Company (WGYTC). The group's founder and director, Godfrey Evans, considered him to be "a total all-rounder" who was talented and popular with the other students. Working with the group allowed him to define his sexual identity, and he embarked on

10578-480: The main school buildings were closed for rebuilding after inspectors discovered the high alumina cement used in construction had caused other public buildings to collapse. Lessons were instead held in portable buildings, which influenced Davies' imagination to create mystery, science-fiction, and conspiracy thriller stories about the main building. He also immersed himself in books such as Sons and Lovers by D. H. Lawrence and The Crystal Mouse by Babs Hodges Deal ;

10707-558: The minor character Phil Delaney ( Jason Merrells ) dies of a cocaine overdose, unnoticed by his social circle. The series was aired in early 1999, when Parliament were discussing LGBT equality ; the series première aired on the day the House of Lords was discussing the Sexual Offences Bill 1999 , which eventually reduced the age of consent for homosexual couples to 16. The première was controversial, in particular because it depicted

10836-740: The new standard. This is especially noticeable in the Star Trek franchise; this would later be explained in-universe as a result of an ancient spacefaring humanoid civilization “seeding” its DNA across countless planets including Earth. This changed again since the 1990s with the advent of computer-generated imagery (CGI), and later on as CGI became more effective and less expensive, as it allows to generate bizarre lifeforms without being constrained to actors with costumes or mechanical effects. Russell T Davies Stephen Russell Davies OBE FRSL ( / ˈ d eɪ v ɪ s / DAY -vis ; born 27 April 1963), better known as Russell T Davies ,

10965-626: The octopean Martians from The War of the Worlds (1898), the Selenites from First men in the Moon (1901), the birdlike Tweel from A Martian Odyssey (1934) and even a sentient star in Star Maker (1937). The Barney and Betty Hill incident took place in 1961 when the couple claimed that they were abducted by aliens and subjected to invasive experiments. It was the first recorded claim of an alien abduction , soon followed by others. The description of

11094-459: The pilot, he approached actors for the main characters. Christopher Eccleston was Davies' first choice for the role of Stuart Jones; Eccleston declined because of his age and suggested his friend Aidan Gillen instead. The roles of Vince Tyler and Nathan Maloney were given to Craig Kelly and Charlie Hunnam , and the secondary character Alexander Perry, originally written for the television producer Phil Collinson during his brief acting career,

11223-555: The popular and long-running Granada soap Coronation Street . In pursuit of this career plan, he storylined soaps such as Families and wrote scripts for shows such as Cluedo , a game show based on the board game of the same name , and Do the Right Thing , a localised version of the Brazilian panel show Você Decide with Terry Wogan as presenter and Frank Skinner as a regular panellist. One writing job, for The House of Windsor ,

11352-533: The production of a story that took place in Loch Ness . The story was the precursor for his first freelance children's project: Dark Season . The show, originally called The Adventuresome Three , would feature the Why Don't You? characters in a purely dramatic setting influenced by his childhood. He submitted the script to the head of CBBC, Anna Home , and Granada Television . Both companies were interested in producing

11481-650: The production of two spin-off series, Torchwood and The Sarah Jane Adventures , and the revival of Saturday prime-time dramas as a profitable venture for production companies. Davies was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2008 for services to drama, which coincided with the announcement he would step down from Doctor Who as the show's executive producer with his final script, " The End of Time " (2009–2010). Davies moved to Los Angeles in 2009, where he oversaw production of Torchwood: Miracle Day and

11610-414: The role of producer in 1994, but continued to write occasionally for the series. Notably, he was requested to write the 100th episode of the series, by then called The Ward , which aired in October 1996. Instead of celebrating the milestone, he wrote a script about a recently emerging threat: paedophiles in online chat-rooms. The episode was about an X-Files fan who was drawn in by a paedophile's offer of

11739-434: The second series, but submitted fewer scripts; Granada had commissioned him to write for their soap The Grand , temporarily storyline for Coronation Street , and write the straight-to-video special, Coronation Street: Viva Las Vegas! . The second series of Springhill continued his penchant for symbolism; in particular, it depicted Marion Freeman ( Judy Holt ) and Eva as personifications of good and evil, and climaxed with

11868-449: The series because it was "the best subject in the world" and, after reading the memoirs, sought to create a realistic depiction of Casanova instead of further perpetuating the stereotype of a hypersexual lover. The series was originally written for ITV, but was turned down after he could not agree on the length of the serial. Shortly after ITV declined to produce Casanova , Gardner took up a position as Head of Drama at BBC Wales and brought

11997-407: The series première, the series was known under its eventual title Queer as Folk . The series emulates dramas such as Band of Gold in presenting realistic discussion on sexuality, as opposed to "one-sided" gay characters in soap operas such as EastEnders , and eschews "heavy-handed discussion" of issues such as HIV; the show instead focuses on the party scene on Canal Street . After he wrote

12126-427: The series was centred on an entire family, Red Productions was given the task of casting eleven principal characters: the role of family patriarch Max Vivaldi was given to Griff Rhys Jones , at the request of ITV for prolific actors; Rhian Morgan, Davies' ex-girlfriend from the WGYT, was cast as Max's wife Val; Sharon Morgan as Max's sister Stella; Joanna Page as Candy Vivaldi; Matthew Barry and Siwan Morris as

12255-473: The series' high eccentricity. Shortly after the transmission of Mine All Mine , the BBC commissioned Davies to produce the revival of Doctor Who , which completed his decade-long quest to return the series to the airwaves. At the time, he was developing two scripts: the first, a cinematic adaptation of the Charles Ingram Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? scandal, was cancelled after he accepted

12384-400: The show garnered 3.5 million viewers per episode and a generally positive reaction from fans, and was renewed for a two-episode special due for the following year. Queer as Folk 2 was broadcast in 2000 and was driven by the plot element of Vince's half-sister's wedding. The specials place emphasis on Vince and Stuart's relationship, and ends with their departure for another gay scene in

12513-499: The show to ITV , Red Productions joined Davies in casting the show and initially approached Jonathan Creek star Alan Davies to portray Bob. Although he was not gay, Davies accepted the role and spent several weeks researching first-hand Manchester's gay scene with series director Joe Wright . His only objection to the role was Bob being a fan of Manchester United F.C. , the team Shindler had named Red Productions for, because of his prolific support of Arsenal F.C. The part of Rose

12642-475: The show with minor changes: Granada wished to produce it as one six-part serial, as opposed to Davies' plan of two three-part serials; and Home was interested in accepting the show on the condition it included a new cast of characters. He accepted Home's offer, and the show was allocated the budget and timeslot of Maid Marian and her Merry Men , which had been put on hiatus the year before. The first three episodes of Dark Season feature three young teenagers in

12771-402: The skins of their victims, using compression fields created by a collar worn around their necks to squeeze their huge size into a smaller space. Initially, the compression ratio is limited, so the disguises tend to be obese people, though some disguises are also slim people. This issue is overcome by new technology by the time of The Lost Boy , in which the skins of thinner people are used. By

12900-671: The spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures . Adult Slitheen are 2.4 metres (8 ft) tall with overweight but muscular builds, long forearms, powerful sharp claws, and baby-like faces. They have pairs of eyelids, which move sideways and have a nictitating membrane . They possess immense physical strength, as they are shown to be strong enough to lift people off the ground. They have a highly developed sense of smell, as they are able to smell adrenaline , and hormones in people, and can sense if one of their own dies. Female Raxacoricofallapatorians can produce poisons within their bodies to use against their enemies. Known methods of delivery include

13029-433: The time of " From Raxacoricofallapatorius with Love ", shorter people could also be used. The exchange of gases that compression entails also builds up within the acquired skin, causing very loud flatulence in humans (the expelled gas smells like bad breath , which the Doctor notes is a form of calcium decay—though, in reality, bacteria that causes tooth decay is different from those that cause bad breath). This side-effect

13158-488: The transmission of Bob & Rose , Davies was approached by Abbott to write for his new BBC show Linda Green . He accepted the offer and wrote an episode where the titular character ( Liza Tarbuck ) and her friends attend a schoolmate's funeral and become psychologically haunted by the deceased woman's solitary life. His first work for the BBC in eight years prompted them to approach him with additional concepts for period dramas, which he invariably declined as his sole intent

13287-467: The twin planet of Clom. The Slitheen are mentioned in the audiobook Wraith World , when Clyde Langer remarks he cannot understand why Luke and Rani would want to read about made up adventures when they have faced the Slitheen. Though the Slitheen do not appear in " The Time of the Doctor ", the Doctor mentions them as among the forces gathered around Trenzalore. Writing for the Radio Times in

13416-460: The two families attempted to overrun Earth with Rakweed, a plant native to Raxacoricofallapatorius and used as an addictive vegetable. Using sound waves, the Slitheen-Blathereen are blown up by the Rakweed in their stomachs. In " Dalek ", a stuffed Raxacoricofallapatorian arm was among a collection of alien artefacts owned by American billionaire Henry van Statten in the year 2012. Rose later mentioned

13545-540: The two most influential movies about aliens – Close Encounters of the Third Kind , and ET the Extra-Terrestrial – the aliens and those movies were both basically variations on the 1950s and 1960s little green or little grey man image". The advent of TV and films, with extraterrestrials played by actors, toned down the fantasy. For budget reasons, humanlike aliens with just some specific non-human body features became

13674-626: The two-parter portrays the Slitheen." Marc DiPaolo, writing about political satire in Doctor Who, cited the Slitheen as an example of this, stating that "If one were to imagine that the American government was the one infiltrated by the Slitheen, that the World Trade Center was destroyed by a plane instead of Big Ben by a spaceship, and crude oil was the Slitheen’s goal instead of spaceship fuel, then

13803-545: The vicinity, Mr. Smith triggers a sound in the attic. This causes the Slitheen-Blathereen aliens to start farting uncontrollably, and through the subsequent vibration of the sound and their own farts, their stomachs explode. Clyde then says the Blathereen aliens had "farted themselves to death." Raxacoricofallapatorians are vulnerable to acetic acid , which reacts explosively—and fatally—with their bodies, making Slitheen allergic to vinegar , ketchup and Coca-Cola . One Raxacoricofallapatorian method of execution involves lowering

13932-399: The waterfall that gave Ben his powers and the disaster which caused the legendary infertility. The serial climaxes in a confrontation between Tess and the deity Century, who is attempting to fuse with Tess's unborn sister. Century Falls is conceptually much darker than its predecessor Dark Season and his later work, which Davies attributed to a trend that inexperienced writers "get off on

14061-483: The younger Casanova was portrayed by David Tennant . The serial takes place primarily during Casanova's early adulthood and depicts his life among three women: his mother ( Dervla Kirwan ), his lover Henriette ( Laura Fraser ), and his consort Bellino ( Nina Sosanya ). The script takes a different approach to Dennis Potter's 1971 dramatisation ; instead of Potter's focus on sex and misogyny, the 2005 serial focuses on Casanova's compassion and respect for women. Casanova

14190-450: Was a long sequence titled "Night of the Demons": the main character, a shop assistant, Stephen Baxter, who discovers his divine lineage, takes over a hotel with his disciples and eventually encounters several of the hotel's employees which had been possessed by the Devil . Several similar sequences were removed to create a thriller set in the days before Judgement Day . An experienced actor

14319-606: Was also seen in a flashback in the same episode. A Slitheen appears briefly in the Tenth Doctor novel The Nightmare of Black Island by Mike Tucker , created from Rose's memories, along with a Dalek and the Nestene Consciousness . The Slitheen are also briefly referenced by the Doctor in the same novel while speaking to a member of the Cynrog about hiding under human-like skinsuits. In the later novel, The Last Dodo , when

14448-407: Was based on a gay friend who married a woman and fathered a child. He saw the relationship as a promising concept for an unconventional love story and asked the couple about their relationship to develop the show. After he developed the series around the prejudice he and his gay friends had shown, he realised he was creating caricatures for the purpose of exposing them , and instead focused on telling

14577-514: Was born on 27 April 1963 at Mount Pleasant Hospital in Swansea . His father, Vivian Davies (1925–2015), and his mother, Barbara (1929–2001), were teachers. Davies was the youngest of three children and their only son. Because he was born by caesarean section , his mother was placed on a morphine drip and was institutionalised after an overdose resulted in a psychotic episode . He described his mother's experience as "literally ... like science fiction" and an early inspiration for his writing career. As

14706-597: Was changed by the 1859 book On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin , which proposed the theory of evolution . This book caused a revolution in fiction as much as it did in science, as authors began to imagine extraterrestrial races completely different from human beings. With the rationale that evolution in other worlds may take completely different directions than on Earth, aliens began to be described as creepy monsters. Usually, authors used features from other animals, such as insects, crabs, and octopuses. Some such aliens are

14835-565: Was enamoured with the narrative aspect of fiction, especially 19th-century literature such as Charles Dickens . Davies continued to submit scripts to the WGYT during his studies at Oxford, including Box , a play about the influence of television which Evans noted contained Davies' penchants for misdirecting the audience and mixing comedy and drama; In Her Element , which centred on the animation of still objects; and Hothouse , an Alan Bennett -inspired piece about internal politics in an advertising office. In 1984, he made his final performance for

14964-713: Was filmed alongside the first few episodes of the new series of Doctor Who , which meant producers common to both projects, including Davies and Gardner, made daily journeys between the former's production in Lancashire and Cheshire and the latter's production in Cardiff. Red Productions also filmed on location overseas in a stately home in Dubrovnik , and alongside production of the identically titled 2005 Lasse Hallström film in Venice . The two production teams shared resources and were given

15093-566: Was followed by the one that celestial objects should be inhabited as well. However, when people thought about such extraterrestrials, they thought of them simply as people, indistinguishable from humans. As people had never considered a scientific explanation for the origin of mankind or its relation with other lifeforms, any hypothetical rational lifeforms had by necessity to be humans. Even in mythology, all deities are mostly humanlike. For example, Voltaire 's Micromégas features people from Saturn , who are simply of higher proportions. This

15222-525: Was given to Lesley Sharp , her first leading role after her portrayal of secondary characters in past Red shows Playing the Field and Clocking Off , and Jessica Stevenson was cast as Holly by ITV Head of Drama Nick Elliott on the basis of her performance in the Channel 4 comedy Spaced . The series was filmed in the southern suburbs of Manchester between March and June 2001 and often used Davies' own home as

15351-537: Was killed by Maria Jackson , Luke Smith was able to trick the Slitheen into resetting their machinery, which then malfunctioned and exploded. Two of the remaining Slitheen were killed, and the others escaped, including one of their children, Korst, the first child Slitheen to appear. The Slitheen returned in The Lost Boy where, using the newer compression technology, two Slitheen named Dax and Bloorm posed as Luke's 'real' parents Jay and Heidi Stafford. They were under

15480-480: Was not permitted by the corporation to create children's dramas—which reached its climax with his last episode: a drama where the Why Don't You? protagonists, led by the show's longest running presenter Ben Slade , were trapped in a café by a supercomputer which tried to kill them. While producing Why Don't You? , Davies branched out within CBBC at BBC Manchester : he attended directors' courses; wrote for older audiences with his contributions to DEF II and On

15609-415: Was offered an extra £100 to write a replacement script. Davies' script was positively received by the CBBC and led to increasingly larger roles which culminated in a six-month contract to write for the show after it relocated to Manchester in 1988. He worked for the show for two more years and became the show's producer. He oversaw an increase in drama which tripled its audience—despite the fact BBC Manchester

15738-500: Was portrayed by Antony Cotton , who later played the gay character Sean Tully in Coronation Street . The series was allocated a £3 million budget, and was produced by Red Productions , owned by his friend and former colleague Nicola Shindler , and filmed by director Charles McDougall and Sarah Hardin on location in Manchester. The eight 40-minute episodes emulated experiences from his social life and includes an episode where

15867-535: Was required to portray Stephen; Davies approached Christopher Eccleston , who had previously been approached for the role of Stuart in Queer as Folk , based on his performance as Nicky Hutchinson in the drama Our Friends in the North . Eccleston accepted the role and helped Davies make the character more human after he observed "Baxter was getting lost amid his loftier pronouncements". The character of Judith, who would represent

15996-483: Was rumoured it would be broadcast over the Easter weekend of 2003. The series was eventually broadcast over consecutive nights on 9–10 February 2003 to 6.3 million and 5.4 million viewers, respectively, and received mixed reactions from the audience: Davies reportedly received death threats for its atheistic message and criticism for its anticlimactic ending, as well as two nominations for Television Awards and one for

16125-469: Was similar to the Kevin Smith film Chasing Amy (1997), as they both portrayed a romance between a straight character and gay character and the resulting ostracism from the couple's social circles, much like The Second Coming shared its concept with Smith's 1999 film Dogma . Like Queer as Folk , Bob & Rose contributed to the contemporary political debate around LGBT rights: a subplot involves

16254-524: Was the last script he wrote for CBBC for fourteen years. He had begun to formulate another successor: The Heat of the Sun , a series set over Christmas 1999 and New Year's Day 2000 that would have included the concepts of psychic powers and world domination. While he was writing Dark Season and Century Falls , Davies sought freelance projects elsewhere; these included three scripts for the BBC children's comedy ChuckleVision . One venture in 1991 led him to Granada Television , where he edited scripts for

16383-447: Was to instigate World War III and sell the radioactive remains of Earth to a depressed galactic economy as fuel for interstellar spacecraft. They staged the crash landing of an alien spaceship in central London , setting up a cybernetically augmented pig as an "extraterrestrial" body. With the world in a state of heightened alert and panic, and with their commander Jocrassa assuming the role of Acting Prime Minister , they persuaded

16512-402: Was to revive Doctor Who , which had then been on hiatus for over a decade. In 2002, he met with the BBC to discuss the revival of the show and producing The Second Coming ; the BBC were unable to commit to either, and he again declined to work for them. After the BBC rejected The Second Coming , Shindler proposed the series should be pitched to ITV. Despite the story's controversial message,

16641-498: Was too bleak to be compared to real life. He highlighted the sixth and eighth episodes of the second series as a time of maturity as a writer: for the sixth, he utilised then-unconventional narrative devices such as flashbacks to explore the hotel barman's closeted homosexuality and the societal attitudes towards sexuality in the 1920s; and he highlighted the eighth as when he allowed the series to "take on its own life" by deliberately inserting plot devices such as McGuffins to enhance

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