This year marks 10 years since Russell was awarded the BAFTA Television Craft award for Writer: Drama, for Cucumber. The following year, he was named the recipient of BAFTA's Dennis Potter award for Doctor Who. Russell is a mentor in Welsh-based initiative Bad Wolf's Blaidd Writers Programme, to nurture emerging Welsh screenwriters. He also participates as a creative associate in upcoming Welsh productions for the Welsh National Theatre. In 2018, he received his OBE for services to drama and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2022.
Posted in: BBC, Doctor Who, TV | Tagged: BAFTA, doctor who, russell t davies
Doctor Who Showrunner Russell T Davies Set for BAFTA Cymru Honour
The BAFTA Cymru 2025 is honouring Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies with the BAFTA Cymru Outstanding Contribution to Television Award.
Article Summary
- Doctor Who showrunner Russell T Davies to receive BAFTA Cymru Outstanding Contribution to Television Award
- Honour recognizes Davies’ 40-year career advancing LGBTQIA+ drama and reviving iconic BBC series Doctor Who
- Creator of Queer as Folk, Cucumber, and It’s A Sin, Davies made lasting impact on both TV and queer representation
- Davies continues to mentor Welsh writers and promises Channel 4’s Tip Toe as his most compelling work yet
BAFTA Cymru has revealed the Special Awards recipients for this year's BAFTA Cymru Awards, announcing that the BAFTA Cymru Outstanding Contribution to Television Award will be presented to Russell T Davies, who, for the last two decades, has been a trailblazer within LGBTQIA+ drama, while also leading BBC hit Doctor Who as showrunner. One of BAFTA Cymru's highest honours, the Award is presented to a Welsh individual who has made an outstanding contribution to Television and will be presented at the BAFTA Cymru Awards, taking place at ICC Wales, Newport, on Sunday 5 October.
Russell began his illustrious career 40 years ago as a graphic artist for the BBC Children's programme Why Don't You. A true revivalist, he helped bring Doctor Who back to TV screens in 2005. For over 25 years, Russell has been at the heart of queer drama, creating Channel 4's groundbreaking Queer as Folk, which premiered in 1999, 15 years ahead of Cucumber, another series noted for its inclusive portrayal of LGBTQIA+.
Having redefined perception of the on-screen portrayal of LGBTQIA+, his accolades span the years, channels and genres. He received his first BAFTA – for Children's Drama – in 1996 for Dark Series. In addition to scripting Doctor Who spin offs, Torchwood & The Sarah Jane Adventures, Russell's long roster of acclaimed work includes Wales-based Mine All Mine (2004), and Baker Boys (2011). He was also executive producer on the Viagra drama Men Up (2023), written by Matthew Barry, who received last year's BAFTA Cymru Writer award for the programme.
Russell has continually brought authentic voices and groundbreaking stories to the forefront of popular culture. His upcoming Tip Toe, on Channel 4, is much anticipated and is, he promises, 'the strongest thing I've written.' It is billed as the last in the trilogy alongside Queer As Folk and It's A Sin, for which he received BAFTA Cymru's Writer award in 2021.
Davies shared, "Awards are both mad and lovely. Receiving this Outstanding Contribution Award is an honour. It means people have watched something and remembered something that you've done. It's our peers who decide on awards like this, which is an enormous compliment. Who would have ever imagined that Doctor Who would win a BAFTA back then? Then there's Cucumber, which couldn't be a more different drama from Doctor Who and was very personal and close to my heart. I'm very proud of winning the BAFTA for the hundredth episode of Children's Ward, too, which was a great delight."
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