How to Connect With People and Aliens in Time and Space
Russell T Davies is returning to Doctor Who as showrunner in 2023.
There’s a good chance you don’t know what that sentence means. But for us Whovians, it’s a big, big deal.
Davies was the showrunner in 2004 when Doctor Who came back from an extended hiatus. He ushered the show into a new era and transformed it from a low-budget UK darling for sci-fi nerds to a global household brand.
Yay for him. But why should you care?
Because his approach to writing Doctor Who reveals a fundamental truth about human connection.
In a recent interview Davies said that when he comes back in 2023, he’s going to do the exact opposite of what he did in 2004.
That sounds like a terrible business decision. Let’s examine:
“In 2004 I was very worried that children were always being told about death and destruction. That’s a speech [The Doctor] gives in episode 2. He arrives on a planet and says, “You know, the human race is always worried that the weather’s going to kill you or eggs or beef or viruses. And yet, you survive.” Because I wanted to do something that didn’t have children walking to school thinking, “Oh my God, we’re going to die.” And it’s very interesting coming to talk to you now, in 2022, where again I want to provide optimism for that audience, and I mean particularly for a 6-year-old watching. But that speech seems a little hopelessly naive now. I think you have to be more detailed now. You have to be a bit more honest to get away with that speech now.”
In 2004 the world was a very different place. It was just a few years after 9/11 and things were very, very scary. But it was also a world before social media, before smartphones, before the 24-7 news cycle.
Children were scared all the time. And Davies recognized that Doctor Who, a family-friendly sci-fi show about a time traveling alien, could provide comfort and hope. He used the show as a vehicle to not merely entertain, but to speak directly to his audience’s deepest fears and insecurities.
And in 2004, that meant reassuring young viewers that things were okay, and they were going to be fantastic.
Time and Context
But 2022 is a completely different story.
The world doesn’t just feel scary, it is scary. And young viewers know it, because they have smartphones and social media and a 24-7 news cycle pumping out constantly devastating stories.
Davies still plans to provide hope, comfort, and optimism. But he realizes that he can’t speak to 6-year-olds today the same way he spoke to them in 2004.
That’s the fundamental truth about human connection: different people need to be treated differently. If you want to connect, engage, or inspire, you need to meet people where they’re at.
And that begins with understanding their perspective.
Davies continued in that interview:
“What I mean is, I think now, the young audience would react, “Well this is stupid. You’ve got to talk about this. You’ve got to say we’re going to flood. You’ve got to say the temperature’s going up. Or you’re letting us down hugely.” So, it feels like in 2005 I was very much trying to care for the audience and look after them. Now I’m in a position of thinking, I have to listen to that audience. Because those young viewers are active, they’re engaged with this, they’re passionate. It’s their world. We’ll be dead and gone. It is their world.”
That’s how I know Davies is going to succeed next year. Not because he’s an excellent writer with a long track record of magnificent Doctor Who seasons. But because he respects his audience enough to take their perspective into consideration and meet them where they are.
Not where they were 20 years ago, but where they are today.
