Davies is one of Britain’s most original television screenwriters. Born in Swansea and educated at Oxford University, he trained at the BBC and initially worked in children’s television. Davies moved on to writing for adults, creating the ground-breaking series Queer as Folk in 1999, based on his experiences of gay life in Manchester. His later work has continued to explore concepts of sexuality and religion in a variety of settings. In 2005 Davies revived the classic BBC serial Doctor Who to much acclaim. Davies was voted most influential gay person in Britain by the Independent on Sunday in 2007. He is shown here sitting in the Tardis on the set of Doctor Who. This photograph was commissioned by the National Photographic Portrait Commission, 2006