Doctor Who boss Russell T Davies has spoken about the ‘hatred’ that circulates about the BBC show on social media sites like X, warning that it is not representative of the genuine fandom.
The 62-year-old was speaking at a masterclass in France for Series Mania this week, when he spoke about the ‘trap’ of assuming that Whovians are ‘the online voice’.
‘I think they are different things,’ the longtime showrunner said. ‘I know they’re different things, I absolutely know that.
‘And that online voice, which is hostile, exists on X, which is a hate site. We shouldn’t be surprised to find hatred on it, because it’s a hate site… It’s very dangerously assumed that that is the fan voice.’
He then went on to say that he fears the ‘minority voice’ online is now ‘slipping into the mainstream’, according to quotes reported in Variety.
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Davies noted that fans don’t ‘have to like a show’ and can have a respectful conversation in disagreement with it.
‘Fandom is creative and brilliant and fun, but it’s all getting soured,’ he said. ‘Turn those phones off for anyone under 16, chuck them in the bin. I literally am evangelical about it.’
It comes after Davies last week triggered a wave of backlash on the likes of X, when he shared to his Instagram Story an artificially generated clip of the taping of the first episode of Doctor Who, with a digitally revived William Hartnell seen speaking with crew members.
Davies appeared to delete the post, but certain Whovians were disappointed that he had decided to promote so-called AI slop, which included inaccuracies, and given that AI poses an existential threat to the TV industry.
Metro contacted Bad Wolf for comment at the time, but the Doctor Who production company did not respond.
Davies’s comments about the toxic elements of the fandom also come in the wake of the divisive finale episode to Ncuti Gatwa’s run as the Time Lord, which saw his Fifteenth Doctor inexplicably regenerate into Billie Piper, who played former companion Rose Tyler.
This in turn prompted plenty of criticism from fans and former members of the Whoniverse alike, who felt like it was a play for the nostalgia that the 60th anniversary specials also tapped into, and that it also made no sense.
The Piper twist was something that the moderator in the masterclass reportedly probed Davies on, although not to much avail.
‘Really, good luck,’ Davies said. ‘I just love Billie, that’s all!’
Doctor Who returns with a Christmas special later this year.
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