DJ Spook

She began her career as a pop singer when she was a teenager and progressed to acting; her roles include Rose Tyler, companion to the Doctor in the television series Doctor Who from 2005 to 2006, a role she reprised in 2008.

In 2007, Broadcast magazine listed Piper at no. 6 in its “Hot 100″ list of influential on-screen performers, the top woman on the list. She has also portrayed the prostitute Belle de Jour in Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

On 15 January 2007, BBC Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles started a campaign to get “Honey to the Bee” back into the Top 100 on download sales as a way of testing out new chart rules that favour download sales. The campaign was highly successful, with “Honey to the Bee” re-entering the official UK singles chart at no. 17, eight years after it was first released.

After an extended break, Piper decided to end her pop career in 2003 and return to her original ambition, acting. She took acting lessons while living in London. Piper gained very positive reviews for these appearances, critics seemingly feeling that she was a far better actress than she was a singer.

Piper will also share the role of Betty with Sue Johnston in the TV adaptation of A Passionate Woman, due to be screened on BBC 1 in 2010.