Russell T Davies blasts 'rubbish' new screenwriters who 'don't actually love TV'

Russell T Davies has slammed a new wave of screenwriters as "rubbish", claiming they can't do their job properly because they "don't actually love television".

The It's A Sin, Queer As Folk and Years And Years writer is launching new drama Nolly at ITV and returning to the BBC's Doctor Who later this year.

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But according to The Telegraph, he has been unimpressed by a new crop of TV writers who he says are more interested in diversity than writing great series.

Davies said: "I do a lot of mentoring, and there are voices wanting to be heard – of any gender or ethnicity – who consider themselves invisible.

"They hate the media that ignores them, and they’re trapped into wanting a job in that medium purely to increase representation. I read their scripts and they’re rubbish.

"They don’t actually love television, so they don’t know how to write for it."

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Davies rebooted Doctor Who in 2005, kicking off the modern incarnation of the sci-fi hit, but left in 2010 and is now set to return for the 2023 series, along with two of his previous stars David Tennant and Catherine Tate.

He is not the only creative to have shared his worries about the quality of up-and-coming 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 television.

"It seems to make them so miserable. Go and work on the bins or something. It’s hard work – it gives you ulcers – so you have to love it."

Davies' latest series, Nolly, stars Helena Bonham Carter as Noele Gordon, the star of TV show Crossroads who was axed overnight in 1981 with no explanation.

The series looks at the poor treatment of women by male TV execs and is set to launch on Thursday on ITVX.