Russell T. Davies has labelled a new wave of screenwriters “scum”, claiming they cannot do their jobs properly because they “don’t really love television”.
The writer of It’s A Sin, Queer As Folk and Years And Years has new drama Nolly coming to ITV and returns to BBC’s Doctor Who later this year.
Read more: Russell T. Davies promises several “Doctor Who” spin-offs
But according to The Telegraph, he is not particularly impressed with the new generation of TV scriptwriters, who he believes are more interested in diversity than in writing great series.
Davies said: “I do a lot of mentoring and there are voices – of every gender and ethnicity – that want to be heard but feel invisible.
“They hate the media that ignores them, and they’re tricked into wanting to work in that medium just to get more representation. I’ve read their scripts and they’re crap.”
“They don’t really love television and therefore don’t know how to write for it.”
Read more: Kaleb Cooper’s glamorous evening at the Farming Awards – chauffeured by Jeremy Clarkson
Davies launched a reboot of Doctor Who in 2005, laying the foundation for the modern incarnation of the sci-fi hit, but left the series in 2010 and will now return for the 2023 series alongside its two former stars, David Tennant and Catherine Tate.
He’s not the only creative to have expressed concern about the quality of aspiring screenwriters – actor and writer Mark Gatiss, who also stars in Nolly, told the Sunday Times: “Sometimes I think I’m like Pollyanna because I’ve met so many people over the years who hate making TV movies.”
“It seems to make them so unhappy. Go and work on the bins or something. It’s hard work – you get stomach ulcers – so you have to love it.”
Davies’ latest series, Nolly, stars Helena Bonham Carter as Noele Gordon, the star of the television series Crossroads, who was fired overnight and without explanation in 1981.
The series looks at the poor treatment of women by male television executives and is set to premiere on ITVX on Thursday.
