Born: 22nd September 1982 (as Lianne Paul Piper)
Episodes Broadcast: 2005-2006, 2008, 2010, 2013

Lianne Piper was born in Swindon, Wiltshire; her parents legally changed her first name to Billie when she was seven months old. She was passionate about performance from her earliest days, and appeared in a television commercial at age six. In 1995, Piper won a partial scholarship to attend the Sylvia Young Theatre School. Soon thereafter, she was an uncredited extra in the movies The Leading Man and Evita, as well as an episode of EastEnders. Piper's appearance in publicity photos for the youth-oriented Smash Hits magazine led to a record deal when she was fifteen years old. Performing simply as “Billie”, she set a record as the youngest artist to debut at number one on the UK Singles Chart with Because We Want To. It was followed by a second number one, Girlfriend, and Piper soon had a platinum-selling album with Honey To The B.

For her second album, Walk Of Life, she became known professionally as “Billie Piper”. But although she scored another number one with Day & Night, the pressure to succeed was taking its toll. Piper had developed anorexia and cystitis, had her life threatened by a stalker, and was hounded by the tabloids. On Christmas Day 2000, she eloped with radio disc jockey Chris Evans; despite the fact that he was nearly twice her age, they married the following May. Evans helped Piper extricate herself from the powerful grip of her music label, and she began to take acting lessons in Los Angeles. She was soon cast in a 2003 television adaptation of the Canterbury Tales, and starred in the telefilm Bella And The Boys. Several movie roles followed, including 2004's The Calcium Kid with Orlando Bloom.

The importance of Piper's character to Doctor Who was made explicit when her debut adventure bore the title Rose

Although the public and critics alike reacted with initial scepticism to Piper's career change, her talent soon helped attract positive reviews. A huge vote of confidence came in 2004, when she was cast as companion Rose Tyler in the revived Doctor Who. The importance of Piper's character to the programme was made explicit when her debut adventure in 2005 bore the title Rose. She remained on the programme for two years, bridging the transition from Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor to David Tennant's Tenth Doctor. Rose's tearful farewell on Bad Wolf Beach at the end of Doomsday would prove to be one of Doctor Who's defining moments during the first decade of the twenty-first century. Already, however, plans were afoot for the character's return. Piper was attached to a potential spin-off called Rose Tyler: Earth Defence before Doctor Who executive producer Russell T Davies decided against pursuing the project. She then returned for several cameos throughout Doctor Who's 2008 season, before a fully-fledged return in its final three episodes. Piper was back again in 2010, helping Tennant bow out in The End Of Time.

Meanwhile, Piper was enjoying a healthy acting career away from Doctor Who. She starred in two telefilms based upon Philip Pullman adventure novels, The Ruby In The Smoke and The Shadow In The North, where she was paired with the future Eleventh Doctor, Matt Smith. In 2007, Piper moved firmly into adult-oriented drama with the first of four seasons of Secret Diary Of A Call Girl -- serving as an executive producer for its last two years -- while also adding stage roles to her expanding repertoire. 2007 also saw her divorce Evans, from whom she had been separated since 2004 as their lives took them in different directions. Piper married actor Laurence Fox at the end of the year; they would have sons Winston in 2008 and Eugene in 2012. An autobiography entitled Billie Piper: Growing Pains was published by Hodder & Stoughton in 2006.

Piper returned to Doctor Who in 2013 for the fiftieth-anniversary special The Day Of The Doctor, this time playing the manifestation of a Time Lord weapon called the Moment. From 2014, she amassed a new cohort of fans when she starred in three seasons of the supernatural drama Penny Dreadful. Other television during the decade included A Passionate Woman, True Love and Collateral. Amongst her movie roles were City Of Tiny Lights opposite Riz Ahmed, Eternal Beauty with Sally Hawkins, and Rare Beasts which she also wrote and directed. Piper and Fox were divorced in 2016. The same year, she began a relationship with musician Johnny Lloyd of the Tribes, and gave birth to their daughter, Tallulah, in 2019. Piper reprised Rose Tyler again when she joined Big Finish Productions' range of Doctor Who audio dramas, starting with the second season of The Tenth Doctor Adventures in 2017.

Piper's career continued at full steam into the Twenties, when she not only starred in I Hate Suzie, but was also its writer and executive producer.