The television writing of Russell T Davies defies easy categorisation, ranging from children’s programmes, across Shakespeare, historical drama and comedy, to the landmark series that have made him a household Queer As Folk, Doctor Who and It’s a Sin.
Gay Aliens and Queer Folk takes a deep dive into the queer narratives Russell T Davies has brought to our screens, exploring how each work created new space for LGBTQ+ stories to enter our living rooms and looking at their impact on the people who saw themselves reflected on mainstream television, often for the first time.
Covering Russell T Davies’ career from his earliest work to his highly anticipated return to the TARDIS for Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary, and highlighting key themes such as politics, sex, AIDS and the role of Wales in his writing, Emily Garside reveals how Davies broke down barriers, showing gay characters unapologetically living their lives to the full and celebrating the complexity and joy of queer identities.
Emily Garside is a writer of many kinds as well as a professional dog Mum. Emily spent a number of years as an academic and lecturer, beginning with her PhD on theatrical responses to the AIDS crisis, and the evolution of LGBTQ theatre. Currently, she is working on two books related to her research. She now specialises in Queer Culture Writing. As a journalist, she is a regular contributor for The Queer Review and has written for American Theatre, Slate, BBC and The Stage. @EmiGarside
Gay Aliens and Queer Folk is a book about Russell T Davies as a TV writer, looking at some of the major TV shows he has written and particularly focusing on queerness and Welshness in these shows. Each chapter explores a different show, with a coda to each chapter looking at a particular theme or area of Davies' work.
I've seen some of the shows in the book, or parts of them, but not all, and it was interesting to see them all put together as a progression, and using this to exploring the change world of TV and particularly LGBTQ representation in British TV. If you've grown up over the time these shows were airing like I did, you do get a sense of what has happened over that time, and it is interesting especially to reflect on Doctor Who and Torchwood in the wake of Russell T Davies returning as showrunner for Doctor Who. For the people who've been big fans of his work across various shows, this book does feel like a celebration of that, a book particularly for those fans.
As I read an advance proof, I don't know how much this will be true for the final book, but I did feel that the Doctor Who chapter has some notable omissions, particularly any discussion of John Simm's Master beyond a mention of the songs used in his scenes in another section. Given that the book discusses Torchwood fanfiction later on, I would've expected to see something about the relationship between the Doctor and the Master as seen and imagined by fans in those episodes. It might've been interesting to see that alongside the book's argument for the Doctor as an asexual figure, as it felt like some of the complexity of queer readings of Doctor Who was lost.
I liked the little chapter at the ending providing a personal history/relationship with the TV shows, as it felt important to the overall arguments about the importance of queer and Welsh elements of Davies' work. The book quotes reviews, and for the more famous works critical articles, to give a sense of different perspectives on Davies' work, and the personal note was a good addition to this, as the impact often was given in terms of general representation or changes in society's perspectives, rather than the impact on individual viewers and fans.
Though I'm not sure I'm a big enough RTD fan to fully appreciate everything, I definitely know people who would love this book and the chance to think about his writing and what makes it distinctive.
I needed more from this. Garside had a tendency to reintroduce concepts that she had already mentioned earlier on in the book which felt rather tiresome. I agree with some of the other reviews in that Garside could have benefitted from actually interviewing Davies to get some primary evidence rather than keep matters quite tenuous and speculative. That being said, it was good to read about the evolution of queer TV and how Davies has played a huge part in making this happen. Plus, there's a lot of Cardiff in here and I live so close to where Torchwood was filmed, so that's cool 😎
this was fun but definitely had its faults. i didn’t know masses about russell t davies beyond 1. dr who and it’s a sin 2. welsh 3. gay, so was definitely interesting to read a bit more about him and his other works which i’d never heard of (although ‘queer as folk’ should maybe be on the watch list if garside is right about its impact). the writing was thorough and ploughed through davies’ entire filmography, working steadily through main themes with comprehensive chapters. however, fair warning: it does read like an essay written by a first year uni student. loads of repetitive concepts (some variant of the sentence: ‘whilst davies didn’t invent/create/originate this, he *leaned into it heavily*’ was repeated over and over and OVER again) and kinda stilted sentence structure were the key things that contributed to this. that’s not to say it’s hugely poorly written - it just meant it became grating to me after about 50 pages. it ALSO reads like a (very comprehensive and serious! no sarcasm!) fan tumblr post or something (to give you an idea of how much time the author seems to spend on the internet, the term ‘fandom’ is used repeatedly as if it’s a real word). the professionalism was also definitely marred by the INTENSE arse-licking of davies throughout. i totally understand being a big fan of someone and respecting their work but this was a serious glazing of the guy. it didn’t make me like him any less, but it did make reading the book a bit painful despite my interest. overall, could probably have stayed as a long, segmented blog post.
A book about the career and works of Russell T Davies is a solid project and this author brings some interesting perspectives, such as the way that Cucumber picked up the lives of the Queer as Folk generation. But this book, which appears to be published by an imprint of the University of Wales Press, sits uneasily between its academic pretensions and the world of politicised, campaigning fandom.
Much of the text revolves around an unarticulated and unexplained definition of queerness which appears to belong to a thankfully bygone world. The definition of queer here seems to include almost anything beyond Terry and June, whereas that never articulated ‘other’ appears to be an homogenous, homophobic mass. This, in my view, vastly underestimates the diversity of UK society in the 21st century and appears to suggest a monochrome, monolithic heterosexual and heteronormative culture which (as a gay man) I do not recognise. Where in 21st century Britain Garside has discovered the pearl clutchers to whom she all too regularly refers, or why she believes they may much matter, is rather beyond me. Gay sex, in this view, is a political act of rebellion - a perspective which I suspect many will also not recognise and may find offensive. But at quite a number of points, rather fanciful opinion is presented as if it were solid fact.
There is clearly much which one could criticise about Conservative governments and the Daily Mail (apparently a stand in for the UK popular press more generally) but Garside does this in a lazy, unreflective way. Conservative government = Section 28 = bad, in this account - with no reflection that the Conservatives also (eventually) legalised gay marriage, or that state-sponsored homophobia was as much a feature of Britain under bygone Labour governments.
On Section 28, Garside presents a view of a Britain in which young people had no opportunity to learn about gay identity - yet Section 28 was so limited in its application that it did not affect the media which increasingly presented gay lives and issues through these years. The UK was not on the same repressive road which Hungary finds itself now, notwithstanding the government’s efforts through the despicable Section 28. Similarly, Garside is wrong to suggest that Section 28 erased gay education from British schools - it had very largely not been there in the first place.
Had Garside focused primarily on analysis of the Davies texts, this might have been a rather better book as she does have some important things to say. However, the context is presented in a very limited and skewed way which overlooks some significant societal and media episodes. The sparse references make clear that this is a cobbled together affair. The author appears to have gone out of her way to avoid interviewing Davies himself so that some of the inferences and conclusions remain purely speculative.
The book is also poorly written in a number of passages, extremely repetitive, sometimes self-contradictory and in need of a decent copy editor, if only to deal with the rather extraordinary (for a reputable publisher) misuse of commas, which Garside repeatedly ‘leans into’, a much overused phrase in the book.
Overall, an opportunity lost. This is not a populist work and the ‘love letter’ to the works of Davies promised by the cover would have come across far better without the attempt to suggest a serious academic framework. As it is, the presentation as a serious work of analysis, rather than the campaigning polemic which this attempt perhaps seeks to mask, falls far short of a serious reader’s expectations.
I possibly wouldn’t have had a problem with this if I hadn’t seen any of the shows discussed. Garside writes clearly and competently, and while there are quite a few glaring grammatical errors that did cause some confusion to me at times, the fault there cannot be said to solely lie with the author.
Unfortunately for Garside, I know more than a little bit about RTD1 Doctor Who and Torchwood, and her analysis is poor to the point that I’m left wondering if she’s actually watched them herself. I’m not in the mood to write a lengthy rebuttal to a huge chunk of a book right now but please know that I totally could if I were so inclined. Given the weak analysis, including occasionally stating things that are outright counter to the actual events depicted on the show, it calls into question everything that Garside says about the other two shows focused on in this book. Why should I believe anything she says?
It sucks because Garside seems like a really lovely and enthusiastic person and I have zero issues with her on a personal level I promise! We even often agree on the main, sweeping points! But just because we agree that, say, 5 is great, it doesn’t mean I can blindly accept someone saying that 2+2=5, you know? That’s not how any of this works.
A thought provoking look at the impact Russel T Davies has had on queer representation in television. It cannot be argued the empowerment that shows such as ‘Queer as folk’ and ‘it’s a sin’ have provided for the community.
Emily takes time to appreciate the amazing career Russel has had over the decades, appreciating every contribution made. You can feel the admiration as you read this book.
The insight into the revival of ‘Doctor Who’ and the mammoth task that was, alongside bringing ‘Torchwood’ to the masses with such love and care.
The little notes of appreciation for giving Wales and Welsh actors a much needed voice throughout were also appreciated.
At times it read more as a love letter, but it was still a fascinating read.
I really wanted to like this as it sits in my perfect intersection of interests, but it was all just a bit insubstantial, with rushed editing and a couple of essays based on incorrect premises, eg. the 10th doctor is almost certainly the *least* asexual of all the incarnations. If the whole book were focused on one throughline in Davies' work rather than multiple short essays, it would have worked much better - or just if there were fewer essays given more expansion.
A wonderful review of the component parts that make us love RTD and his shows so much. The wander back through his early works (and my early life in Manchester!) was at once informative and nostalgic. A well-written, funny and indulgent look at one of our best and most "out" TV creators.
any fan of Queer as Folk or Doctor Who will enjoy reading this exploration of the work of Russell T. Davies. Good for students of pop culture as well. Accessible read.
As someone who doesn’t read a lot of non-fiction books (unless I really really have to) I have to say I enjoyed being emersed into the fantastic world of Russell T Davies, looking under the skin of his most famous works and viewing them in the stark reality of the social climate at the time. It is fascinating to see the acceptance of LGBTQ+ representation on television grow over a relatively short time frame and how (embarrassingly) a lot of the realities of the queer world were hidden from people.
The book follows the decades of his career, starting by reminiscing all of those wonderful childhood programs like Playschool, Children’s Ward and, of course, Dr Who, then moving through the decades to Queer as Folk, Cucumber and, more recently, It’s a Sin; works that really opened the door to LGBTQ+ representation on mainstream television. This book provides a holistic and honest view of how the programs were received, and more importantly, what the impact of these shows were. I am honestly unsure of where we would been, in terms of queer representation on TV if Davies had not been instrumental in breaking down these barriers in the 90’s.
You learn that even though there is a lot of joy in Davies work, there is also the darker side… someone always dies; this, I have learnt, is an attribute that Davies bring to all of his work, bringing audience from the most fantastical fictional worlds, into a stark reality that gives them an essential lesson, or at least an opportunity to reflect on their own life … the Dr [Who] can’t save everyone.
Russell T Davies is a pioneer and before reading this book, I hadn’t quite realised how much of his work had infiltrated its way into my life. Emily Garside has done and wonderful job in capturing the true beauty of his work, while also, in some respects, making me realise how desperately far we do have to go in terms of having a full spectrum of representation on our television screens. This book is a celebration of a wonderful human and his impact to so many lives.
You can treat this book almost like a series of essays, picking up a chapter in any order. Whilst there is a sense of narrative and chronology throughout the book, each chapter has its own focus and message. So, if you think ‘I like Russell T Davies, but do I want to read a whole book about him?’ pick out the chapters that spark your interest first (for me it was Know Your history: It’s A Sin and Queering History at the BBC: A very English scandal) and I know that you will be hooked and inspired to read the rest.
If you are a fan of LGBTQ+ television then I highly recommend this book, its fun and informative with the right amount of passion that makes you want to go an march in a pride parade thank the world that Russell T Davies for flying the rainbow flag for a long as he has.
This was a love letter to Russell T Davies, there's no doubt about that. This book is a charming conversationally written deep dive into the works and achievements of a man who has played a hugely important role in the lives of LGBTQ+ people and nerds for quite a long time now. Garside explores Davies' history, giving readers a deeper understanding of the shows they may deeply love as well as those they may yet to have seen. I think she's also done a good job of promoting some of his works, intentionally or not, as I'm on the verge of buying Years and Years on DVD after the chapter on it. It's fascinating to see how influential TV is for minority groups, the true importance of representation. I've grown up watching people argue that people like myself merely existing in media is "woke", "political", or "pandering" and it's wonderful to see that people like Davies have never once let those criticisms stop them from fighting for our right to be seen. This book is not so much a biography on Davies and his works as it is a love letter by someone whose life has clearly been affected by his writing. I, myself, was eight years old when Doctor Who returned with Davies at the helm, and it changed so much of my world view. Doctor Who became a major part of my childhood. I was a queer, neurodivergent, nerdy kid who never really got to see any form of positive representation up until that point and it was such a meaningful moment in my life. Though Davies did not invent the TARDIS he certainly allowed it to become, as Garside says, a safe space for a whole new generation of people, whether they be queer, nerdy, or both. It's a surprisingly heart warming book because it reflects how significant Davies' works have been for many people and it highlights this in a way I have never thought about before now.
Thank you to Calon for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Gay Aliens and Queer Folk is far more than it seems on the surface. Not only does it deep dive into Russell T Davies' career from inception to present, it deep dives into both queer and Welsh representation in media over the last thirty years as well. The result is a heartfelt and detailed account of both topics, exploring them as identities and topics and political issues. I'm a huge fan of Doctor Who and Torchwood but I learnt so much - and though I've never watched Queer As Folk, Garside makes the text accessible enough that her discussion of plot and impact still comes across to someone without the initial foundation. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be recommending it to so many people!
(The author's own enthusiasm for the topic sometimes get in the way of her prose, but of all the issues for a book to have I think that's a pretty good one!)