It’s been 15 years since Billie Piper left Doctor Who in Doomsday and we’ve never been the same since

Doctor Who fans have been marking the 15th anniversary of the series two finale Doomsday which saw the departure of Rose Tyler (Billie Piper).

For the uninitiated – Rose was the first companion to grace our screens when Doctor Who was rebooted in 2005.

She saw out series one in style with the Ninth Doctor (Christopher Eccleston), before a glorious second series with Ten, played by David Tennant.

However, with the end of series two came Rose’s time to depart and Russell T Davies decided to bless us with the most heartbreaking storyline known to man.

In her efforts to defeat the Daleks, Rose is transported to a parallel universe to prevent her being pulled into the Void – but there’s no way back to the Doctor.

Left heartbroken, the Doctor is able to find one last-ditch way to speak to her, as he projects a holographic image of himself into her world (‘I’m burning up a sun just to say goodbye’).

As the pair say their goodbyes, Rose tells the Doctor she loves him. Before he’s able to finish his reply, he’s pulled back into his universe.

David Tennant broke hearts in the episode (Picture: BBC)

Basically, it was torturous. And yes we do go back and watch it weekly.

Fans have been marking the anniversary of the iconic episode, with one sharing snaps of the scene and writing: ’15 years ago today, the doctor burnt up a sun just to say goodbye to rose in doomsday.’

Another paid tribute to composer Murray Gold’s work, writing: ‘Doomsday is a work of art in terms of writing and acting, but it is simply impossible to imagine this story without the integral contribution of Murray Gold’s music. There’s just something about this score that’s chilling to the bone. One of the great achievements of Doctor Who.’

Rose became one of the best-loved companions (Picture: BBC)

‘8th July 2006: Four million Cybermen and four Daleks. Whether it was war or pest control, the outcome was certain. For the Doctor and Rose, it was Doomsday,’ another said.

Written by showrunner Russell and directed by Graeme Harper, Doomsday featured the Daleks and the Cybermen in the same scenes.

It was also the first introduction to Catherine Tate’s Donna Noble, who starred in the 2006 Christmas episode alongside David, with the comedian returning as a regular companion for series four.

Thankfully, Billie ended up returning to screens in Doctor Who – in a story arc in 2008 and then again for the 50th anniversary in 2013.

However, the 38-year-old has made it clear that she won’t return to the role again.

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‘I wouldn’t go back,’ she told The Guardian. ‘It’s a great role, but you’re away from your kids for so long. My experience was that you were in Wales for nine months solid.

‘And as a job it dominates your life. It’s mainstream family viewing so you can’t really escape it.’

Doctor Who is set to return for series 13 on BBC One later this year.

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