Doctor Who helped launch the career of Billie Piper. The actress is now starring on Showtime’s Penny Dreadful, and she spoke about her time on Doctor Who, 10 years ago, in a new interview. Her time on Doctor Who actually prepared her for her new role.

According to Digital Spy, the actress said the following about her time on the popular series:

“I go and meet the fans sometimes at these signings – at the conventions – and a lot of them are like, ‘Yeah, I would watch Doctor Who as a baby with my Mum and Dad’ and I’m thinking, ‘Jeez! I don’t need to hear that!’.  Or some of them at 10 are like, ‘My Mum and Dad named me after Rose Tyler’ and you’re looking at them and they’ve got their smart phones… and you’re thinking, ‘Oh my God – this is insane!’”

Penny Dreadful just premiered its third season on Showtime over the weekend, and the series has a strong base of fans. Piper said the following about how she is able to handle the fans for her new series:

“I think if I hadn’t done Doctor Who, I would be nervous about the cult-y fan thing. But because I’ve had just years of that, I feel very much at home – and actually the two cross over sometimes if I’m doing a convention. I mean, obviously there’s children that aren’t quite able to watch Penny Dreadful… legally! But there are lots of people who enjoy both – I think they’re just massive genre fans and it all chimes with them.”

Were you a fan of Billie Piper on Doctor Who? Do you watch Penny Dreadful? Tell us what you think.