Rose Tyler has triumphed in RadioTimes.com’s Companion Champion, a grand tournament of every companion in the history of Doctor Who. The character played by Billie Piper narrowly beat John Barrowman’s pan-sexual Time Agent in the final, after five rounds, and more than 2.3 million votes.
Following a qualifying round, 32 companions, friends and fellow travellers from over 50 years of the show competed in head to head popularity contests. En route to being crowned winner, Rose saw off favourites including Strax the Sontaran, River Song and Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart. Her final bout with Captain Jack attracted more than half a million responses alone, with a late push snatching victory for Tyler by a mere 2,000 votes.
Fans mobilised on social media, with the stars themselves getting involved. John Barrowman’s official Twitter account encouraged his admirers to vote “If you love Captain Jack Harkness as much as I do,” while Piper thanked everyone who voted, saying Rose was “still a very precious character to me.”
Both Rose and Captain Jack accompanied Christopher Eccleston’s version of the Doctor in the relaunched series, before moving on to David Tennant’s era. Captain Jack’s adventures continued in spin-off show Torchwood and a version of Rose reunited with Tennant in last year’s fiftieth anniversary special The Day of the Doctor.
The Day of the Doctor, the 50th anniversary special of the BBC show, has been crowned the Radio Times Audience Award winner at the 2014 Arqiva British Academy Television Awards.
The only award at the TV Baftas decided by the public, the Audience Award was voted for by tens of thousands of people on RadioTimes.com during April and early May. In a keenly fought race, the Doctor Who special, written by showrunner Steven Moffat, saw off stiff competition for the prize in the shape of Broadchurch, Breaking Bad, Gogglebox, Educating Yorkshire and The Great British Bake Off.
The Day of the Doctor aired on 23 November 2013, exactly 50 years after the first episode of Doctor Who, An Unearthly Child starring William Hartnell, was screened and introduced the Time Lord and Tardis to the world for the very first time.
Broadcast simultaneously to 94 countries across the globe in both 2D and 3D, the 75-minute episode was the television event of 2013. Starring Matt Smith and Jenna Coleman, the episode saw the return of former Tardis incumbents David Tennant and Billie Piper, as well as a featuring role for legendary veteran British actor John Hurt as the War Doctor. With a cameo from incoming incarnation of the Time Lord Peter Capaldi and a glimpse of former Tardis favourite Tom Baker, the episode was without doubt one of the most spectacular chapters in the show’s long and illustrious history.
Described as “a love letter to fans”, The Day of the Doctor attracted 12.8 million viewers on British television, with a further 2.4 million watching the US simulcast on BBC America – breaking the channel’s all-time record. The show also took the record for the most requested programme on the BBC’s iPlayer, enjoying almost 3 million streams before the end of 2013.
There were big numbers for the anniversary special in the cinema too, with cinema takings of over £1.7 million in the UK pushing Doctor Who to number three in the UK cinema box office in the week of airing, and the show pulling in more than $10 million across the world in movie theatres.
The Day of the Doctor is the second Radio Times Audience Award winner. The 2013 award was won by HBO fantasy drama Game of Thrones, shown in the UK on Sky Atlantic.
What a weekend it’s been! Thanks for all the photos, if you met Billie this weekend, feel free to e-mail us your photos! We’ll be adding photos of today’s final day later on! missbilliepiper@gmail.com
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.
