Billie Piper: “Is this ever going to pay off?”

Nick Kitchen is a writer at Kasterborous Doctor Who News and Reviews - All the latest Doctor Who news and reviews with our weekly podKast, features and interviews, and a long-running forum.

While one would expect an interview with former (and soon to be again) Doctor Who companion, Billie Piper, this soon to the 50th Anniversary special to be about her return as the titular Rose Tyler, she focused mostly on the early days of shooting the first series of the 2005 revival.

Chatting to The Guardian Weekend magazine, she recalled:

At first, I didn’t know whether the show as going to be a success or die a death. It was such a hard shoot – nine months, with pretty much everyone using CGI for the first time. There were times when I thought, ‘Is this ever going to pay off?’

But it did. I remember being in a London hotel for the launch of the first episode. There was a buzz; it was thrilling. I called a friend and said, ‘I’m going to remember this feeling for the rest of my life.’

As we all know, it more than paid off and helped launch the acting career of the then teen pop singer, as well as re-launch Doctor Who for a new generation. She also seems to be aware of the divisive nature of her character, Rose, as she noted that “loads seem hacked off” about her casting.

She certainly won a number of the skeptics over with her portrayal, but there remains a sector of fandom who were glad to see her go at the end of Series two (and series 4 and the Tennant Specials if you’re counting her brief reprisals).

So, what say you? Did Piper win you over as Rose or are you still “hacked off?”

(Via TV3)

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