BBC rubbishes reports of Catherine-Billie tensions

THE BBC last night dismissed claims Billie Piper and Catherine Tate did not get along when they appeared on the Doctor Who set together for the first time.
Piper was making her return to the hit sci-fi series alongside Tate, who replaced her as the Doctor’s assistant. But witnesses said the two, pictured here during a break in filming at Birchgrove, Cardiff, maintained a frosty silence throughout the three hours on set.
Piper, 25, who was back working on Doctor Who after her success in The Secret Diary of a Call Girl, was seen laughing and joking with the film crew. But her mood apparently changed when she came face to face with Tate.
Onlooker Abigail O’Reilly, 18, said, “It was quite cold but you could see from a distance that Billie and Catherine were ice-cool with each other.
“Catherine just didn’t look happy and Billie was obviously bored. She was yawning a lot.”
Insiders claim there was rivalry between the pair, who were filming on Thursday night, over who gets top billing in the new series due to be screened next March.
But a BBC spokesman told the Western Mail, “It’s complete rubbish.”
Piper is not expected to return to the time travelling show for long. Instead she was celebrating yesterday after ITV2 bosses commissioned a second series of The Secret Diary of a Call Girl.