Russell T Davies says death of husband to brain cancer has been his ‘greatest loss”

Screenwriter Russell T Davies has described the death of his husband to an aggressive brain tumour as his “greatest loss”.

Speaking on the On the Marie Curie Couch podcast, the Doctor Who writer opened up about Andrew Smith, who died in September 2018, following eight years of treatment for glioblastoma multiforme, external.

The couple had been together for 20 years and married in 2012.

The Swansea-born writer, who was also behind Channel 4 shows It’s a Sin and Tip Toe, said it was “hard work” looking after his late husband, but that he would have gone through it for another 50 years “without a single complaint”.

Davies said he had not been with Smith at his appointment when he was first diagnosed because the couple thought it was just an “ordinary meeting” with the hospital.

He said that when Smith returned home, he told Davies he had been diagnosed with cancer but could not remember what type it was.

“He said it’s a brain tumour. I said ‘what sort of brain tumour?’ And he just couldn’t remember,” Davies said.

“All he knew is he had another appointment in a week, so I said I would come to that obviously.”

Davies said Smith then found a piece of paper in his bag three days later that said “glioblastoma multiforme”, which a nurse had written down for him.

It refers to a malignant brain tumour, external, a type of cancer that starts in the brain or spreads into the brain from another area of the body. Its seriousness depends on how big it is, if it has spread and a person’s general health.

Davies said he then looked up the diagnosis, only then realising how serious it was.