BILLIE IN AMERICA

We guess the biggest single thing we've got wrong in all the five years we've been doing this is the belief that Billie Piper would be a terrible choice for Doctor Who's assistant. We were wrong and, erm, regret the error.

Talking of being wrong about Billie Piper, someone called Lara Gould who writes for the Sunday Mirror has decided that Piper's hopes of becoming an American star have been dashed:

Doctor Who - which had ratings of more than 10million when it relauched on the BBC last year - now has an audience of just 1.6million in the States. Shows like American Idol, with acidtongued Brit judge Simon Cowell, reach around 20million viewers.

A TV source said: "This was Billie's attempt to explode in the US - but it's not looking good.

"Taking Doctor Who to the States was going to be the big launch pad for Billie's Hollywood career. She was being touted as the new English rose.

"But the viewing figures for Doctor Who prove she's made very little impact on American audiences."

Right... so, you're comparing the ratings for an imported programme that's already been widely available on bittoreent and DVD, which airs on a niche cable network with a brand-new, local programme airing on one of the networks? That's hardly a very useful comparison, is it?

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