David Tennant and Billie Piper talk all things Doctor Who, including their initial doubts about the reboot. “Everyone said it was going to be a failure.”
Doctor Who’s most iconic Doctor/Companion duo is hands down David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor and Billie Piper’s Rose Tyler. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love Matt Smith’s run with Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill, but my heart belongs to the Tennant/Piper era.
In fact, I’m such a Tennant fan that I’ve been following his podcast, “David Tennant Does a Podcast With…” ever since it started. And I was ecstatic to learn that Piper would be stopping by the podcast for an episode with Tennant, nearly 15 years after their on-screen debut together. As old friends and former costars, they had a lot to talk about.
15 years ago... omg.
— David Tennant Does A Podcast With... (@DavidTennantPod) October 20, 2020
This week with @billiepiper! Listen now 👉 https://t.co/9h0ZBHQWNM pic.twitter.com/PUWYu1cLyk
It’s no secret that David Tennant is a lifelong Doctor Who fan. He even married the daughter of Pete Davison, who played the Fifth Doctor! Although admitted
So his connection to the series runs deep and true. But Piper wasn’t really a fan before she joined the reboot back in its first season. She had her doubts, and apparently she wasn’t alone:
"I didn’t grow up with it so I didn’t have that feeling that you had of complete fandom and you were obsessed, right?… Then, when we started making it, everyone said it was going to be a failure. So you just didn’t imagine it being on for longer than three months, imagining that 15 years later, it’s still probably the biggest job you will have ever done and you’ll still be talking about it and going off and meeting people and, you know, celebrating it…"
Doctor Who has definitely carved out its own space in pop culture. Having been innumerable fan conventions over the years, Piper and Tennant know that better than anyone.
Hearing these two have a conversation again really brought tears to my eyes. Hopefully the other Whovians out there will know where I’m coming from. You can listen to Billie Piper’s episode of “David Tennant Does a Podcast With…” on Apple, Spotify and other podcast platforms!
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h/t Digital Spy, RadioTimes