Brilliant! If the fans were any good at anything, they'd be doing something instead of writing pointless, impotent comments like this one.

So that they can make the same, predictable shit over and over again too?

Good point Russell.

Oh, Russel! that's not nice. We ensure you keep your job, after all.

It didn't help Heroes any having the fans blab. If Lost posters had their way the show would've been done 2 years ago because apparently people don't like mystery in shows that are clearly a giant mystery. And as for Doctor Who, something on that has been around two times longer than your average blogger probably has their sh*t down.

Because what would fans know?

I see it both ways. Yes most series have a major problem of fandom overstepping their bounds to thinking they can make things BETTER than the producers running the show (Trek notably is full of this bunk, though in defense the producers toward the end sucked as well)

At the same time though, producers do well to listen to the people who make the core audience of your show.

Because there is nothing to be gained by making yourself available to the fans, just look at Star Trek and Star Wars. No one involved in either has ever made an extra buck or kept there carriers alive doing conventions. Producers are just better and more important people than you and I...

@Garrison Dean:
I disagree with the Lost analogy. It's the difference between saying "I don't like x brand clothes because it's not my taste," and "I don't buy x brand cloths because they fall apart after two weeks."

I think Lost is the latter. After so many changes in showrunners I have no faith the plot is going anywhere.

Sorry, I digress.

But what would be different if they did listen to Who fans? Daleks every episode? Cybermen kill everyone at Torchwood, then make out?

I aggree with the lack of an offcial forum. While I enjoying reading some of the well thought-out and written discussions some forums have most of them are just full of the whinny, over vocal minority.

@Garrison Dean: Lost had no mystery. If it did, it would have been interesting. All it had was piles of meandering pointlessness. I've been more mystified by my own bowel movements.

As for RTD- he's a hack. Ignore the fans for the moment, and instead, focus on the basic principles of story telling. RTD can't string a story together from start to finish without resorting to some deus ex machina.

Fortunately, he's got a stable of competent writers (like the Hugo winning Moffat). He's obviously a competent producer- every episode has been well produced, no matter how ill-conceived the script is. I wish someone would force RTD to stop writing.

There are few people on Earth more whiny or pedantic than the average hardcore Doctor Who fan, so I sort of see what he's saying. That said, a) who says they even have to READ the forum? and b) Rusty obviously never listens to any kind of outside crit anyway, judging from recent episodes.

(mumbles something about being both a whiney Dr. Who fan AND a Lost fan...)

Sure, RTD, don't listen to the fans unless they are kids who ended up influencing that steaming pile of crap that was the episode "Love & Monsters"

@T3knomanser: Yeah, bring on more Moffat! I understand he did a two-parter for the upcoming series.

@edgyspice:

Why can't they have an official forum AND ignore it? because any official forum becomes the de facto central location for the fan base. Sure, there might be lots of other forums and blogs and some might be influential, but the hub would always be the 'official' forum.

And if you get enough fans arguing it out in one place long enough, some consensuses will be reached about what's going wrong or right and what direction the show should take. And while this happens all the time in a million places that is all safely ignored because even the fans involved don't really expect anyone involved in the show to follow any given blog or message board.

But if you make the board official, it validates the ideas. These are the OFFICIAL fans on the OFFICIAL message board. Who does some lowly producer or writer think he is, ignoring them? Are they more OFFICIAL just because they are paid? An idea to be laughed at!

If I was running a successful science fiction show with a large, vocal fan base, I'd have second and third thoughts about providing them a rallying point too.

The unofficial forum at Gallifrey One is pretty extensive and would be hard for an official forum to compete with. Its usually pretty easy to pick the RTD contributions out as they are the opposite of what good science fiction should be. Even when he has a decent premise to start with the ending is some atrociously contrived psuedoscience that wouldn't have been credible even in the original series. Its almost as if he is trying to make up for the cheese factor lost by having decent sets and special effects by making the endings to his episodes as cheesey and ridiculous as possible.
The other writers, particularly Moffat, have made the most memorable episodes and if RTD listened to the fans they would be getting more than an episode or two each per season.

Yeah. Definitely ignore the fans so that shows like Torchwood can continue to be top-notch, totally-live-up-to-their-premise, do-an-awesome-job-with-their-characters shows.

GREAT idea.

Will he at least listen to a television critic or two?

@Thieu: Agreed... when Buffy aired I always looked forward to the episodes written by Joss, now when that "by Russell T. Davies" pops up, I kinda cringe and prepare to, as Karen Walker said, "Grab a bottle, hunker down, and pray for daylight!"

Good for them!

I often find geeky-fanboy-dorks hard to take, and I am one.
-Kle.

RTD needs SOMEONE to tell him that plot devices such as magic sonic screwdrivers that do everything, "deadlock-seals," deux ex machinas, and giant meaningless reset buttons are undermining his show's credibility.

Has an "official" forum ever been a good thing? Every company sanctioned forum I've been to is even more overrun with idiots than normal and the poor moderator has their hands full just removing the posts in all capital letters. If you really want to discuss Dr. Who there are plenty of forums out there for it that also have interesting and intelligent communities, certainly better than some BBC run bulletin board.

And, truth to tell, the fans most vocal on a forum are the minority. Few people signs up for an official forum of a television show or movie without strong feelings about that product. It seems inevitable that some minor point is going to go against their "vision" and they'll bitch to high heaven because of it. See: Fallout fanbase.

As far as staying away from fans, I say more power to him. I prefer my entertainment written by professionals based on what they think is best. If I don't like the result I can stop watching and read some fan fiction but I do not need the fanfics inserted into my television show.

I'm just wondering why he thinks that the writers take suggestions from fan bulletin boards. Any show worth a lick wouldn't dream of it. And they have fan boards because you are making the show for them, you might as well thank them in some meager way. TBH that quote in incredibly insulting to science fiction and the people who make it.

@bnpederson: Insert the obvious point about RTD's Doctor Who being fanfic already...

@Justin K. Rivers: I don't understand why people expect anything DIFFERENT from Doctor Who, to be honest. That whole schtick has become so utterly ubiquitous, in my eyes, that it's not even fair to criticize it, because it's not trying to do anything different at all. It's just some fun, really. Don't look for coherence or even much sense.

C'mon everyone - Russell doesn't waste time listening to the fans; he's much too busy making sure none of his shows feature rubbish like a professional paranormal investigator who's just been told in as many words that there are bits of 1918 showing through in the present day in this hospital, and is then scared witless by the appearance of a one-legged bloke on crutches.

Oh, wait.

I actually have to say a word in Davies' favor. I've seen many things (particularly music) ruined by too much fan interference. Too many cooks spoil the broth, and all that. I'm not saying he's definitely right, but there's something to be said for ignoring the masses and sticking to your guns.

Unless it sucks. In which case, you fail, Mr. Davies.

If he listened to fans he'd bring back Sally Sparrow.

I just finished reading the fan-edited, fan-approved, fanfic version of Moby Dick, where the great white wale ends up being blown to bits with an RPG, and the blubber that lands on the deck is sold in Japan for kinky toys, which are then shipped by Ahab to Thailand, but on the way they're attacked by pirates! Lots of pirates! But some ninjas snuck on board in Japan, and there's a 20-30 page long debate about which would win (and it turns out Ishmael is a ninja too!), and then Boba Fett shows up, but the sea opens up, and they all end up plunging 1000 feet below, to some Lost Land, but Bruce Campbell is there fighting with a chainsaw....

...well, I don't want to ruin the ending...but it was awesome and it was all totally canon, so...you know, you know it was good.

If I was RtD, I wouldn't want to hear fan input either.

But he's got a big point. If you cater to the fans, all you'll end up with is suck.

I look at it like this: :\

No seriously, I figure if they got my attention without prior help to begin with then they can damn well maintain it that way too.

@aspiringexpatriate: Because producers on shows like Lost and Heroes say they do EXACTLY THAT. Look at Beaman's blog: they specifically mention that they made changes to the second season as fan input showed them where they were having story-telling issues. Lost's actors, writers and producers all monitor the Fuselage to see how the show is being interperted and realized. I'm sure there are plenty of other shows that take a similar tack.