For the aristocrats of British theatre, the wedding of the actress Billie Piper to Laurence Fox was a distinctly unshowy.

The invited cast of family and fellow actors at St Mary’s church in the village of Easebourne, West Sussex, numbered hardly more than 50. Perhaps those great patriarchs of the stage: Edward Fox, and the groom’s father, James, were disappointed at the lack of fanfare. Villagers, who turned out in force to watch from behind barricades certainly felt a little let down. The groom, best known for his role alongside Kevin Whately’s Lewis in the series that followed on from Inspector Morse, arrived 45 minutes early. He seemed a little nervous – the best man and ushers dragged him off to a local pub – after which he said he felt “very good” about the day ahead.

Ms Piper arrived with five minutes to spare, her ivory dress covered in a matching black coat with large collars.

The bridesmaids wore black capes over dark dresses with purple skirts – beneath grey clouds on the last day of the year, the effect was mildly gothic.

Rosemary Smith, a watching housewife, was not impressed. “She looked very ordinary,” she said. “I had expected her to be a bit more glamorous. She didn’t have anything in her hair – no flowers, no nothing.”

For other villagers, disappointment in the dress was more than made up for by the celebrities: there was Kevin Whately, there were James, Edward and Emilia Fox, there was the bride’s former husband, the broadcaster Chris Evans, and, according to one determined spotter, “that woman out of Coronation Street”.

There was, however, one man who towered over all of these, and even the wedding itself in terms of the feverish excitement he generated. Excited girls clambered on cars, and on the shoulders of their fathers, mobile phone cameras poised, hoping for a glimpse of The Doctor, otherwise known as the actor David Tennant.

Tennant starred alongside Ms Piper in Doctor Who, the series that transformed her from a pop star into a household name.

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