Billie Paul Piper, is a British singer and actress. Born and raised in Swindon, Wiltshire,
she made her entertainment debut in Scratchy & Co., and at the age of fifteen signed a
recording contract and released her debut single "Because We Want To", which debuted
at number one in the UK, making Piper the youngest artist ever to debut at number one.
The single was followed by Piper's album Honey to the B, which was certified double platinum
by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand and platinum by the British Phonographic
Industry. In 2000, Piper released her second album, Walk of Life. In 2003, Piper retired
from the recording industry and launched a highly successful television career.
Piper's transition into acting began in 2004. Her most famous role is as Rose Tyler, companion
to The Doctor, in the television series Doctor Who on BBC from 2005 to 2006, a role she reprised
in 2008, 2010, and 2013. In 2007, Broadcast magazine listed Piper at no. 6 in its "Hot
100" list of influential on-screen performers; she was the top woman on the list. From 2007
until 2011, she starred as the high-flying escort Belle de Jour in the TV series Secret
Diary of a Call Girl. She currently stars as Brona, an Irish immigrant, in the horror
TV series Penny Dreadful.
Early life Leian Paul Piper was born in Swindon, Wiltshire,
England. On 25 April 1983, her name was officially changed to Billie Paul Piper, by her parents,
Paul Victor Piper and Mandy Kane Kent. Piper has one younger brother, Charley, and two
younger sisters, Harley and Elle. She studied at the Sylvia Young Theatre School and Bradon
Forest School. Career
1998–2000: Honey to the B Piper's career began when she was selected
to appear on the Saturday morning children's television show Scratchy & Co. Piper later
landed a role in a television commercial promoting the pop magazine Smash Hits. Piper was offered
a record deal at the age of 15, and in 1998 became the youngest artist ever to debut at
number one in the UK Singles Chart with "Because We Want To", released under the stage mononym
"Billie". Her follow-up single "Girlfriend" also debuted at number one.
Her debut album Honey to the B was released immediately afterwards, and debuted and peaked
at Number 14 in the UK album charts, selling more than three million copies in the UK alone
along with a Platinum certification, and a 2x Platinum certification in New Zealand,
where it reached No. 3. However, Honey to the B found limited success in other territories,
such as Australia where it debuted and peaked at No. 31 despite the success of "Honey to
the Bee", and in the US it almost went completely unnoticed, peaking at No. 17 on the Heatseekers.
At the 1998 Smash Hits Poll Winners' party, she was nominated for Best New Act and won
Princess of Pop. She then released "She Wants You" as the third single from the album. The
song reached No.3. "Honey to the Bee" was released as the fourth single from the album;
like the previous single, it reached No.3. At the same time, "She Wants You" was released
in the USA. It reached No. 9 on the "Hot Club Dance Play" chart.
In 1999, Piper was nominated for two BRIT Awards and won two awards at the 1999 Smash
Hits Poll Winners' party, although at the latter ceremony she was reduced to tears after
being booed by fans of Ritchie Neville, member of boy band Five, who Piper was dating at
the time. Piper then started to tour and release in
Asia. The singles and the album were released during mid to late 1999. In August of that
year, the follow-up to "Because We Want To" was released in Japan, a single comprising
"Girlfriend" and "She Wants You" combined. She recorded a song for Pokémon: The First
Movie titled "Makin' My Way". 2000–03: Walk of Life and musical retirement
During that time, she recorded her second album. She decided to release further records
under her full name, Billie Piper. She returned to the Singles Chart in May 2000 with her
third number one single "Day & Night". She waited until September to release "Something
Deep Inside", which reached No. 4, but her success wasn't to continue. In October 2000,
Piper released her second album, Walk of Life, which reached Number 14 in the UK Album Chart,
but quickly fell off the charts and was certified Silver in the UK. The album only charted in
two other countries, New Zealand where it reached No. 17 only, and in Australia where
it was a minor success, peaking at No. 23. In Piper's autobiography, she states the album
was a 'commercial bomb'. The song "Walk of Life", the final single off this album, was
released in December 2000 and reached Number 25 in the UK Singles Chart.
In February 2001, Piper appeared in court to testify against a woman named Juliet Peters.
Peters was charged with, and eventually convicted of, stalking as well as making a number of
threats against Piper and members of her family. Peters received psychiatric treatment as part
of her sentence. According to her autobiography, Piper was reluctant about the court case,
but was pushed by her parents and her label. She also stated in the book that this was
why "The Tide Is High" wasn't released as a single, writing "The court case succeeded
in doing what I alone could not: cutting the ties. Without it I might have been tempted
back." In January 2007, BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles
started a campaign to get "Honey to the Bee" back into the Top 100 on download sales as
a way of testing out new chart rules that favour download sales. The campaign was successful,
with "Honey to the Bee" re-entering the official UK singles chart at No. 17, eight years after
it was first released. 2004–07: Transition to acting and Doctor
Who
In 2004, Piper appeared in the films The Calcium Kid, as the romantic interest of Orlando Bloom's
character, and Things to do Before You're Thirty. Shortly before starting work on Doctor
Who, she filmed a starring role in the horror film Spirit Trap alongside Russian pop star
Alsou, released in August 2005 to generally poor reviews. In November 2005, Piper starred
as Hero in a BBC adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing, updated for the modern day in a similar
manner to the Canterbury Tales series in which she featured, with Hero now being a weather
presenter in a television station.
Doctor Who originally ran from 1963 to 1989. In the autumn of 2003, it was announced that
the series would be resurrected beginning in 2005; the casting of Piper as Rose Tyler,
a travelling companion to The Doctor, was announced in May 2004. Piper won the Most
Popular Actress category at the 2005 and 2006 National Television Awards for her work on
Doctor Who. BBC News named Piper as one of its "Faces of the Year" for 2005, primarily
due to her success in Doctor Who. At The South Bank Show Awards in January 2006
Piper was awarded The Times Breakthrough Award for her successful transition from singing
to acting. In March, the Television and Radio Industries Club named Piper as best new TV
talent at their annual awards ceremony. In September, Piper was named Best Actress at
the TV Quick and TV Choice Awards. After the completion of the very successful
first series of the revamped Doctor Who, the British media regularly released conflicting
reports about how long Piper would be staying with the programme. In March 2006, she claimed
that she would continue on Doctor Who into its third series in 2007. In May, however,
she was reported to be considering quitting the series, although she did express an interest
in playing a female version of the Doctor in the future. In June, the BBC announced
that she was to depart in the final episode of the second series, "Doomsday". Piper's
decision to leave had been taken a year previously, but remained a secret until news of her departure
became public. In November 2007, the BBC confirmed that she
would reprise her role as Rose Tyler in the fourth Doctor Who series for three episodes.
Later, it was confirmed by Russell T. Davies in Doctor Who Magazine that this return had
been planned since she left. It was also revealed in the "Turn Left" Doctor Who Confidential
that Billie had made arrangements to return as Rose since she decided to leave.
The series began in April 2008, and after several cameos, Piper made her official return
as Rose in the series four final episodes "Turn Left", "The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's
End". She did not initially state whether she would be reprising the role again. Interviewed
on Doctor Who Confidential, she commented that "it's never really the end for the Doctor
and Rose, but it's certainly the end for the foreseeable future". She reprised her role
as Rose Tyler in "The End of Time", the last of the 2009–10 Doctor Who specials. In January
2013 Piper confirmed on the Graham Norton Show that the producers had not asked her
to take part in an episode for the show's 50th anniversary; however, in March 2013 the
BBC announced that she would be returning to Doctor Who for the special alongside David
Tennant, Matt Smith and Jenna-Louise Coleman.
2007–11: Secret Diary of a Call Girl
Piper has completed work on two stand-alone television productions. In the first, a BBC
adaptation of Philip Pullman's historical novel The Ruby in the Smoke broadcast in December
2006, Piper played protagonist Sally Lockhart, a Victorian orphan along with Matt Smith playing
Jim Taylor. The BBC plans to film all four of Pullman's Sally Lockhart novels, with Piper
continuing in the role in The Shadow in the North which was shown in December 2007. Piper
made her stage debut in a touring production of Christopher Hampton's play Treats, which
opened in early 2007 in Windsor. Treats was to have ended its tour in the West End, at
the Garrick Theatre, starting in February 2007 with previews. The play officially closed
in May. In 2007 she appeared as the main character, Fanny Price, in an adaptation of Jane Austen's
novel Mansfield Park, screened on ITV1. This was her first acting role on television for
a broadcaster other than the BBC. Piper also starred as Hannah Baxter in Secret
Diary of a Call Girl, an ITV2 adaptation of Brooke Magnanti's The Intimate Adventures
of a London Call Girl, a memoir detailing the life of a high-class prostitute who adopted
"Belle de Jour" as her pseudonym. The series, which aired from September 2007, saw Piper
in several semi-nude scenes. As part of her preparation for the role Piper met the memoir's
author some two years before her identity as a research scientist was revealed in a
Sunday newspaper: "I absolutely had to meet the person behind the words to be able to
take the part... People did ask me about her and I just had to smile, to avoid giving anything
away...". A second season, with Piper again in the starring role, started filming in May
2008, during which two body doubles were hired to hide Piper's pregnancy during the sex scenes.
The third season began airing in January 2010. In January 2010, tying in with the broadcast
of the third season and following on from the real Belle de Jour confirming her real
identity, ITV2 broadcast an interview special, Billie and the Real Belle Bare All which saw
Piper meeting with Dr Brooke Magnanti on-camera for the first time. Piper has provided voice-overs
for various television commercials, including one for Comfort fabric-softener airing in
June 2007, and Debenhams airing 2011. Piper has also shared the role of Betty with Sue
Johnston in the two-part TV adaptation of A Passionate Woman, screened on BBC 1 in April
2010. Piper was confirmed in May 2011 to join the cast of an upcoming romance-comedy film
directed by Robin Sheppard titled Truth about Lies.
2012–13 Piper played Carly in the UK premiere of reasons
to be pretty at the Almeida Theatre, running from November 2011 to January 2012. It opened
in November 2011 to press, and received critical acclaim with reviewers claiming it was "one
of the better [theatre productions] I have seen". The Guardian, The Observer, Daily Mail,
London Evening Standard, Metro, The Times, The Telegraph, Time Out, The Arts Desk, Daily
Express and The Financial Times all gave the production rave reviews with a minimum of
four stars. BBC Radio 4 reviewed the show live, applauding Piper as "[f]antastic, completely
brilliant. Her performance is so convincing and moving, an absolutely terrific performance".
The Jewish Chronicle hailed Billie Piper's performance as second to none, being the best
of the night, and stating that "[n]o actor can cry more convincingly than Piper", giving
the show four stars. In August 2012, it was reported that Piper
would make her National Theatre debut in a play by Secret Diary of a Call Girl creator
Lucy Prebble titled The Effect, which ran from November 2012 to February 2013. Within
days of the opening preview nights the show received critical acclaim, focusing primarily
on Piper's 'outstanding' performance. The play went on to become the most critically
acclaimed show of the season with Billie going on to be nominated for the What's on Stage
'Best Actress' award for her work in The Effect. The play was also nominated for 'Best New
Play' and 'Best Set Designer'. Due to success and demand, the show was extended for a further
month and an online ePetition was started for the show to be added to the National Theatre's
Live Programming. In 2013, Piper was nominated for "Best Actress" at the Olivier Awards and
Evening Standard Theatre Awards for The Effect. 2013–14
On 11 May, Showtime aired a new horror series called Penny Dreadful in which Piper plays
Brona Croft, a poor Irish immigrant who is trying to escape a dark past. On May 29, Piper
appeared alongside Ben Whishaw in the Playhouse Presents television special Foxtrot.
She is now starring in Great Britain at the Royal National Theatre.
Personal life Piper married businessman, DJ, and television
presenter Chris Evans in a secret ceremony in May 2001 in Las Vegas after six months
of dating. Their marriage attracted much comment because Evans is 16 years older. The couple
separated in 2004 and later divorced in May 2007. They have remained friends.
A story in The Independent on 27 June 2006 stated that Piper has declared that she does
not wish to claim any money from Evans' reported £30m wealth or his £540,000 salary from
Radio Two. "I'm not taking a penny from him," she told the Radio Times, "I think that's
disgusting." Piper also revealed in her interview with Radio Times that she left her pop star
career with very little money. Evans has admitted that the age gap was a reason in seeking the
divorce. Piper dated and lived with law student Amadu
Sowe from 2004 to 2006. Piper married actor Laurence Fox in December
2007 at St Mary's Church in Easebourne, West Sussex. They live in Easebourne, Midhurst
in West Sussex. Their first son, Winston James, was born in October 2008, via emergency C-section
after a 30-hour labour. They had a second son, Eugene Pip, in April 2012.
Filmography Television
Stage Awards and nominations
Awards 1998 – Smash Hits Awards: Princess of Pop
1999 – Smash Hits Awards: Best Female 1999 – Smash Hits Awards: Best Dressed
Female 1999 – Smash Hits Awards: Best Female Act
2005 – The National Television Awards: Most Popular Actress
2005 – BBC Face Of The Year 2005 – BBC Drama Awards: Best Actress
2006 – The South Bank Show Awards: The Times Breakthrough Award – Rising British
Talent 2006 – TV Choice/TV Quick Awards: Best
Actress 2006 – The National Television Awards:
Most Popular Actress 2006 – BBC Drama Awards: Best Actress
2006 – Tric Awards: Best New Talent 2006 – GQ Magazine Awards: Woman of the
Year 2006 – BBC Drama Awards: Exit of the year
2011 – Glamour's UK Actress of the Year Nominations
1998 – Smash Hits Awards: Best New Act 1999 – Brit Awards: Best British Newcomer,
Best British Female 2006 – Broadcasting Press Guild Awards:
Best Actress: 2006 – BAFTA Cymru Awards: Best Actress
2007 – TV Choice/TV Quick Awards: Best Actress
2008 – Rose d'Or: Special Award for Best Entertainer.
2009 – Ewwy Award: Best Actress in a Comedy Series
2011 – Hello Magazines Most Attractive Woman
2013 – Laurence Olivier Awards: Best Actress 2013 – London Evening Standard Theatre
Awards: Natasha Richardson Award for Best Actress
Discography
Honey to the B Walk of Life
Footnotes
References Cook, Benjamin. "Billie". Doctor Who Magazine.
pp. 13–21. McLean, Craig. "Why we fell under Piper's
spell". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 January 2006.
Piper, Billie. Growing Pains. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-93280-3
"Faces of the year – the women". BBC News. 30 December 2005. Retrieved 3 January 2006.
External links Billie Piper at the Internet Movie Database