Russell T Davies says he now keeps a kitchen knife by his front door because online harassment about his support for trans rights has spilled into the physical world. The screenwriter told the Guardian that someone showed up at his house after years of death threats and false accusations of pedophilia, which he attributes partly to critic Graham Linehan's posts.
Davies, who revived Doctor Who and created the queer drama Years and Years, has long faced backlash for his work. He describes brushing off earlier attacks but says the landscape has shifted. "The online world is becoming the real world," he said. "People have worked out my address, and one person turned up at my house. If you believe a paedophile lives here, it's not the maddest thing in the world to come and get me."
He frames the problem as systemic. "Nothing is going to unseat these tech barons," Davies said. "It will require some sort of revolution to stop them. So for the first time in history, hatred is being monetised by an algorithm."
Despite these concerns, Davies maintains an optimistic public persona. He deflects past violence, including being gay-bashed by bus conductors, by noting others have suffered worse. When his husband died, Davies returned to work on Years and Years days later, calling writing "a nice escape." He also recalls his father calling him "yesterday's man" after he initially left Doctor Who as showrunner, yet concludes that assessment cheerfully: "I knew I wasn't."
The Guardian has published an exclusive extract from Davies's memoir, The Queerest of Folk, alongside this interview.