Because Who Wants to?
Billie Piper, famous (well sort of famous in that kind of really crap “celebrity” way) for being married to Chris Evans and having teen hit single is going to be the Doctor’s new assistant.
Apparently, she is a good actor based on some recent TV appearances that I haven’t seen, and on the forum’s it has gone down as a good move, so who am I to argue.
bq.:http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,7493,1223727,00.html The former singer, 21, was an instant hit when she appeared in BBC1 drama Canterbury Tales: The Miller’s Tale opposite Dennis Waterman, and was watched by more than 8 million people. She also appeared in BBC2’s contemporary drama Bella and the Boys.
She’s a bit old to have that teen following anymore, but she is just the sort to get the Dad’s watching (if she dresses like “Leela”:http://www.shillpages.com/dw/jamesl04.jpg … ). So the die hard Who fans will be watching (and saying it’s crap obviously), the Dad’s will be watching, the Mum’s have Christopher Eccleston, but what’s in it for the Kids? “Doctor Who’s new arch enemy, ‘The Rapper’, played by Enimen”?
May 25th, 2004 at 16:33
I thought she was a bit wooden in the Canterbury Tales personally, but she wasn’t terrible. Besides which, that’s pretty much a pre-requisite for Doctor Who assistants - if they weren’t a bit air headed the Doctor wouldn’t have to keep rescuing them from the latest dubious alien of the week.
May 26th, 2004 at 10:14
I miss your big yellow sunflower.
Billie has the requisite FHM looks, which I suspect is a reason for her casting.
Plus a lot of the posing for those type of photos involves looking faintly puzzled that your bikini has got wet whilst I sat on the beach, so she’s perfect for saying “what is it, Doctor?”.
Still, this is causing a wavering worry to appear over my personal DW horizon. I will be wonderfully surprised if she doesn’t become the cliche of the pretty, dumb but emotional type of companion.
May 26th, 2004 at 14:47
I’ll bring the sunflower back once I’ve got a decent template for WP sorted out.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see over Billie. The companion is often the one that asks the questions that allow the Doctor to explain the plot, which is a bit of an easy way out.
I share your concern but don’t think the series will suceed or fail based on Billie’s performance anyway.