Russell T Davies has described the death of his husband Andrew Smith from brain cancer as his greatest loss, reflecting on their 20-year relationship during an interview on the On the Marie Curie Couch podcast.
Smith passed away in September 2018 after an eight-year battle with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive form of terminal brain cancer.
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The couple married in 2012, 12 years into their relationship, after Smith's diagnosis.
Davies recalled that Smith initially chose not to know his formal prognosis, a decision that surprised the screenwriter at the time.
"My greatest loss was my husband. We'd been together for 20 years.
Andrew Smith, bless him," Davies said. "There was 12 years without cancer, then the last eight years he was diagnosed with brain cancer.
He had a glioblastoma multiform, which eventually took him."
After the diagnosis, Davies asked medical staff whether Smith should be informed about the severity of the disease.
A nurse advised that patients often handle diagnoses this way, and it was fine as long as a loved one knew the truth.
Doctors initially gave Smith a lifespan prognosis of 12 to 18 months, but he lived for eight years.
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"It was amazing," Davies said.
Davies recalled the moment Smith returned home from a routine hospital appointment with the diagnosis, initially unable to remember the name of the condition until finding a note from a nurse in his bag.
