This May, former Doctor Who head writer Russell T Davies returns to BBC One with an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which will be of particular interest to DWM readers. Not only does it feature the legendary Bernard Cribbins as Snout alongside Matt Lucas (Nardole in 2015’s The Husbands of River Song), Richard Wilson (Dr Constantine in 2005’s The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances)and Eleanor Matsura (Jo Nakashima in 2008’s The Sontaran Stratagem)with Maxine Peake, John Hannah and Elaine Paige, it was also made by the Doctor Who production team as the ‘fourteenth episode’ of the 2015 series...
“Literally, we joined on the end of Series Nine,” Russell T Davies tells DWM.“The Husbands of River Song wrapped up its robots, and Athens took its place the very next day. From the BBC’s point of view, it saved a serious amount of money. But Doctor Who was right at the front of our thoughts. At one point I had to go to the top floor of the BBC to sell this to Tony Hall, and after ten minutes of pitching, I just said, ‘Look, let’s be honest, it’ll be like Doctor Who. Same audience. Same crew. Same feel! All that fun and thrills, and CGI and prosthetics, laughs and danger, for kids and families and everyone.’ And eyes lit up! That intention was the spine of the whole production, that’s why I went to BBC Wales; I wanted those make-up teams, the green-screen experience, everything that Roath Lock has built up, with good old Andy Pryor on casting duties. Mind you, to get Danny Hargreaves at my side, just like the old days, I had to think of a reason to include an explosion. A Midsummer Night’s Dreamdoesn’t naturally lend itself to explosions, I must say. But we did it! There’s a bang!”
Given its conspicuous lack of pyrotechnics, what made Russell choose to adapt A Midsummer Night’s Dream rather than any other Shakespeare play?