More on Piper's Future

There is more confusion regarding Billie Piper's future on Doctor Who beyond the end of the series. As we previously reported, the Mirror stated over this past weekend that she would be leaving the series at the end of this coming season; the BBC issued a simple statement of "No comment" in reply.

Now, in an 'exclusive' in this past Sunday's Daily Star, the paper reports that Piper has "laughed off" reports that she is quitting the show, quoting her as saying she would never let Davies or the show down as she is so grateful to both. They also claim, via an alleged friend of Piper, that she has already signed a contract to do a third series. The article quotes a 'friend' as stating that Piper is already under contract for a third series, even though it has been stated elsewhere that this is not the case. ITN has also picked up the story, directly quoting Piper as calling the rumours "rubbish," though not offering clues about where this comment comes from. Yet ITV says that Billie "squashes Dr Who rumours" but intimates that it actually comes from a reporter asking Piper as she left a restaurant Saturday night.

Meanwhile, in a comment posted on an Internet forum at AllSpark, an unnamed source who identifies themselves as working on the series describes the situation thus: "As of me leaving work on Friday night, she's probably not going. She's not signed a contract for season 3, but then she only signed her contract for season 2 about two months after they started filming, so don't read too much into that. We're hopeful we'll get her, but she does have a lot of tempting offers on the table. I think she will be in season 3, but if she's there for the whole thing or just some of it is something way from being decided. The bit about us already holding auditions for a replacement is bollocks though. We have enough work on without auditioning people eight months before we'd actually want them."

The story has also been reported at BBC News, Yahoo News, RTE; meanwhile the Daily Star reported that this week's OK! Celebrity Chart has Billie Piper at #8, noting "Billie slams rumours she's set to quit her role as Doctor Who sidekick Rose Tyler".