AUTHOR: Redaspie DATE: Thursday, June 15, 2006 ----- BODY:

Well, the endless rumours turned out to be true after all. I had, actually, got to the point of discounting them completely, so I was in fact somewhat taken aback by today's news. But yes it is true - Billie Piper is leaving Doctor Who when the series ends in just a few weeks time.











The current rumours, possibly caused by hints in the official press release, are that Rose Tyler may be killed during the last episode. I hope that this particular rumour turns out to be completely unfounded. I remember the time that Adric was killed in Earthshock way back in 1982, and watching the death on screen of a familar face is a pretty traumatic experience for a 6 year old (as I was at the time). Adric, of course, was never one of the best loved of the Doctor's companions. However, there is no doubt that Rose Tyler is already a fan favourite, up there with Sarah Jane Smith and Jamie McCrimmon. The reasons for this aren't easy to spot. The brilliant team of writers that head honcho Russell T Davies has assembled. Then there's Billie Piper, who played her brilliantly and proved what a great actress she is (how people laughed when it was first announced that pop poppet Billie was to become an actress. How they jeered! Come on, that daft teenie warbler can't possibly become an actress!) Next stop for Billie is apparently, the adaptation of Philip Pullman's Sally Lockhart novels. I have no doubt this'll be another triumph for her, and I for one am looking eagerly to The Ruby in the Smoke due for transmission this October.

The departure of Billie means that, come the Christmas special, neither of the two original lead stars are going to be around. Of course, that doesn't mean that there won't be any familiar faces at all. We are promised the return of Captain Jack Barrowman, another hugely successful companion, this time for a more permanent time, and of course its quite possible that both Jackie Tyler and Mickey Smith will continue with their supporting roles. Nonetheless, the new series is about to enter its most challenging time - more so than the Doctor, the series centred on Rose as the central character, the one who the audience identified with. The second season has reduced her role, moving the emphasis to Tennant's Doctor, and rightly so. Now, however, the producers need to create a replacement for Rose, and he (or more likely she) will have to be every bit as successful as Rose as a character. One big question for me is, will they play safe? RTD has almost constantly registered his worry about the series straying too far into territory too unfamiliar with the casual viewer, hence the strong emphasis on Earth-based stories. So will he feel it necessary to make the next companion someone ordinary and down-to-earth, like shopgirl Rose? That I think would be a mistake, and lead to merely a Rose carbon copy. No - I hope there'll be more adventurous than that. So here's a suggestion - RTD, in the extraordinarily unlikely event that you're reading this, make the next companion autistic...

-------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Louisefeminista COMMENT-DATE:2:44 PM COMMENT-BODY:I was one of those critics who orginally didn't believe Billie Piper could do it as she was indeed a manufactured pop star (what was her song... "Because We Want to"... ot summat like that)and being the ex-Mrs Chris Evans (well, you can't blame her that though she good brains to dump him!)

But thankfully..... I have been proved wrong and I admit I kinda like her. She plays Rose in this down-to-earth manner and thankfully no theatricals.

Sad if they bump her off though and will be unimpressed by Russell T Davies.

But Captain Jack will be back as well (that toothy grin...).

It will be interesting to see who will replace her. I do thinks she is up there with Sarah Jane Smith (I have a vague recollection of her days as an assistant)though I also liked Nessa and Teagan. Though Adric was a bit dippy (though can understand the distress in the way he was dispatched) -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Redaspie COMMENT-DATE:2:50 PM COMMENT-BODY:Mmm, I actually think Adric was an aspie!

And Nyssa was undoubtedly the absolutely most *gorgeous* of all the companions, if I can be a red-blooded heterosexual just for one mo here. And I mean in terms of personality as well as appearance btw.

Rose has been pretty impressive. The thing now is for RTD to avoid coming up with a Rose clone as the new character. We need a radical departure from that. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Louisefeminista COMMENT-DATE:3:09 PM COMMENT-BODY:I preferred Teagan as she was damn sexy (and that weird corset she used to wear not very practical for running away from Daleks but for showing off her ample chest it did the trick!)

Sorry but Adric didn't make much of an impact on me I afraid.

I wonder who are the hot faves to take over from Rose...? -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Redaspie COMMENT-DATE:8:17 PM COMMENT-BODY:For all the rumours about that go to www.gallifreyone.com.

It's one of my links.

And I thought Tegan was much too shouty. I don't like shouty people. They make me want to hide under the nearest table. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Louisefeminista COMMENT-DATE:8:51 PM COMMENT-BODY:Yeah, you make a good point about Tegan. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Louisefeminista COMMENT-DATE:8:51 PM COMMENT-BODY:This comment has been removed by a blog administrator. -------- COMMENT-AUTHOR: Redaspie COMMENT-DATE:9:00 AM COMMENT-BODY:Blimey, wonder who that was... --------