Billie Piper Says She Knew Christopher Eccleston Was Going Through A ‘Hard Time’ Filming Doctor Who

Billie Piper has opened up about seeing her Doctor Who co-star Christopher Eccleston “struggling” on the set of the hit sci-fi show.

The ninth doctor has been open in the past about personal clashes with the show’s bosses while filming the 2005 revival of the beloved series.

He previously vowed never to work with showrunner Russell T Davies again, and accused the BBC of “blacklisting” him after he stepped down from the show, after which David Tennant took over as the Time Lord.

At a fan convention last year, the Shallow Grave actor branded the series a “mess”, but added it “wasn’t to do with me or Billie”, but rather the team behind the show.

Now Billie has spoken out about her time playing the Doctor’s companion Rose Tyler. In an interview with the Independent, the I Hate Suzie star said she doesn’t share “a lot of those sentiments” and “had a very different experience” on the show.

“I was going through a lot of personal stuff – I think that’s where my focus was. I’m still really close with those guys, and the whole production team really,” she explained. “I now know that he was having a hard time, but I’m not sure I understood at the time how troubled he was with it all.”

She added that she was filled with gratitude and excitement for a huge career break, and that it’s “kind of sad to hear” Christopher’s account. 

“I knew he was struggling, but yeah – I thought it was just scheduling and things like that, which are often a tricky part of what we do,” she added.

She concluded that a return to the Whoniverse isn’t totally out of the question, though just as an “appearance” rather than a “full-time thing”.

Christopher has previously spoken out about the personal and mental health struggles he has battled in his career, including that he “broke down” and experienced a mental health episode while filming for the first series of The A Word on BBC, which aired in 2016.

Billie’s latest role is in playing producer Sam McAllister in Netflix’s Scoop, which focuses on Prince Andrew’s infamous Newsnight interview with Emily Maitlis.