BBC on Billie Piper Report: No Comment

BBC News reports that the BBC has "declined to comment" on reports that Billie Piper will be leaving the series at the end of this forthcoming second season. Says a BBC spokesperson, "We are not commenting on the third series - we are still working on the second series. Rose has a whole new journey and a fantastic set of adventures to go on with the brand new Doctor, starting in the special on Christmas Day. Viewers will then see them return in a host of scary and exciting stories in a new series next year." Careful-eyed readers will note that this does not constitute a denial about the story, which first appeared overnight in the Mirror newspaper.

Meanwhile, at right is the cover of the Mirror this morning, with the story about Billie Piper prominently figuring on the lower half of the front page.

Today's Daily Record also covers the news item, with more comments from a BBC "source" in their article. "The BBC are auditioning other girls to take over because they want the next actress lined up when they announce Billie's departure," this source tells the Record. "The casting people have been conducting secret auditions with a very small number of actresses and keeping it very, very quiet. They are calling girls in for screen tests one at a time and making sure they never bump into any of the other candidates. They've told all of them that if any names leak they'll be struck off the list."

Update: Additional news sources now reporting this include CBBC News,South Wales Echo, United Press International, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review,WebIndia, Digital Spy (second story here),NowPlayingMag, Scifi.com, Dark Horizons, Monsters and Critics,New Kerala India. We'll keep you updated with further developments (with thanks as always to Steve Tribe and Paul Engelberg for updated reports)