Then they eventually put their finger on it, most people recognise Fox from Lewis, ITV’s Morse spin-off drama, in which he played Detective Sergeant James Hathaway, Kevin Whately’s sidekick, for seven series. Others will know him as the husband of Billie Piper, the popstar-turned-actress, to whom he has been married for six years. “I’ve never called myself that; it would sound weird,” insists Fox. “At Lewis, when I’m being naughty, they say, ‘Oh look, Mr Billie Piper’s being a d—.’ They know that will make my hackles rise.”
Despite his escalating profile, Fox, 35, is a family man. He’s most at home chopping wood and fishing for pike near the ramshackle West Sussex cottage he shares with Billie and sons Winston, five, and Eugene, 18 months. The downside to doing eight shows a week in London is being away from it all. “Theatre is great until you start doing it and then you go, ‘God, I’m missing my family,’” he says. To make things easier, the Foxes (plus their two dogs, Baxter and Peggy) have moved to the capital while he’s on stage. Continue reading »
Regarding Billie Piper in The Day of the Doctor Steven stated:
“I thought the story of Rose, which was beautiful, was done. I didn’t want to add to it, I didn’t feel qualified to add to it. That was always Russell’s [T Davies] story. The way Russell ended it in The End of Time was perfect. I didn’t want to stick another bit in. It would be wrong.
But we did want Billie Piper, one of the absolute heroes of Doctor Who, back in the show without interfering in the story of Rose Tyler. I think I might of spoiled something if I had done that. Billie represents the rival of Doctor Who, more than anyone else. It’s all about Billie, it’s her show for two years. It’s really startling watching The Runaway Bride and you’re going, ‘Where is she? Where is she? Where is the star of the show?’
Billie joined Chris Evans this morning on his breakfast show, along with husband Laurence Fox, to promote ‘The Day of The Doctor’. You can listen to the full show HERE! Billie starts at around 2hrs.
Fox, 35, stars as Guy Haines in the play, a stage adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel, also made into a 1951 film directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
Fox said the role of Guy, an ordinary man pulled into an extraordinary chain of events, was his favourite kind of part. “It’s like Morecambe and Wise. You need the guy the drama happens to,” he said.
“Given the choice, I would always prefer to play the guy who is a real person. I like the Everyman part. The hardest thing to understand is what a normal person would do in an extraordinary situation.”
But the actor, who was supported in the audience by his Lewis co-star Kevin Whately, insisted that his wife was the true thespian in their marriage. “She’s a much better actor than I am. I’m really pleased at that,” he said. “It would be awful to go out with an actress who wasn’t better than you. I love her for that. And she will always have my back.”
She is no stranger to the panics and pitfalls of a theatre premiere — but Billie Piper has said it is more terrifying to watch her husband face the critics than to do it herself. After the opening night of Strangers on a Train, starring her husband Laurence Fox, Piper said: “I think it is easier to be part of a press night than to witness one, especially with a loved one, be it your husband or a friend.
“With your husband, it’s like watching how it would be with my son on stage or something — past terrifying.”
Piper, 31, who was shortlisted for best actress at Sunday’s Evening Standard Theatre Awards for her performance last year in medical thriller The Effect, said she missed being on stage. But she said it was nice to be able to support her husband.
Despite the fear and stress, she said performances were often best on press nights, adding: “There’s a profound energy and you know there’s a lot of people rooting for you.”
Are you still in touch with your Doctor’s companions?
“Yes, I was talking with Janet Fielding (Tegan) just this morning. So yes, very much. We still do the audio CDs quite regularly for Big Finish, licenced by the BBC.”Companions are different now, aren’t they?
“I think they struggled with companions as the modern world encroached on Doctor Who. They struggled to get them right. They wanted to do the right thing and make them interesting and challenging, just a better part, but I don’t think they managed it until Billie Piper arrived as Rose. She was the first companion that worked as a proper rounded character. Other than that, they were there to get into trouble and take a storyline in a certain direction. One of my companions, Tegan, basically had the storyline that she didn’t want to be there. I also had Turlough, who tried to kill me, but it didn’t really work. The answer was, you write a damned good character and that’s what Russell T Davies managed to do with Rose. Billie’s performance was great as well. The argument which I’ve heard is that Rose was the more important character and it’s not far off.