Doctor Who announces reunion of Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper after 20 years

‘I don’t think my Doctor exists without Rose,’ said Eccleston. Christopher Eccleston and Billie Piper are reuniting under the Doctor Who umbrella for the first time in 20 years. Eccleston played the ninth incarnation of the much-loved Time Lord and Piper played his companion, Rose Tyler, in the revived series in 2005. Since then, Matt Smith, Jodie Whitaker, Peter Capaldi, David Tennant and current star Ncuti Gatwa have all played the Doctor in the BBC show.

Eccleston, 61, and Piper, 42, were especially adored by fans of the series. Now, the pair will reunite for the first time in two decades to front a new Doctor Who audio drama series. While both have starred in Big Finish audio dramas separately, the new project will mark their first time together. "Back to the Powell Estate, where the Doctor’s past returns to haunt him, and out into the universe where enemies old and new are waiting,” reads a synopsis for Doctor Who – The Ninth Doctor Adventures, out later this year. The show will be made up of 12 hour-long episodes and is the fourth season of the audio drama.

Commenting on their reunion, Eccleston said: "I am so happy to be back recording more adventures for the Ninth Doctor with Billie. I don't think my Doctor exists without Rose. "He's a 'one man, one companion' kind of alien. We’ve explored him on his own at Big Finish, as a loner. But there's a resilience and a bravery and a deep empathy to Billie as Rose, that's why I do this. They complete each other.".

Piper added: "I can’t think of a better time for Rose to reunite with her first Doctor than now. Twenty years after she first ran into the TARDIS and towards adventure, here we are again, me and Chris, ready to have fun facing the universe – and the monsters – together.". Matt Fitton, the show’s producer has said that the episodes will slot “neatly into that 2005 series”, featuring “more Jackie Tyler, more Powell Estate, plus friends and enemies old and new through time and space”.

"Our writers have done an amazing job recapturing the spirit of that very special season," he added. "And Chris and Billie have embraced these scripts with delight and gusto. They're having a blast, back on that trip of a lifetime – and they sound fantastic!". The episodes are available to pre-order before their release in August 2025. They cost from £9.99 per story to download and own or £11.99 to download along with a collector’s edition CD from www.bigfinish.com. A mutlti-buy bundle is available to pre-order at £102 or £126 including the collector’s edition CD.