“I always equated the scene with that moment in Beauty and the Beast when Belle kisses the Beast and he turns into a man, and you’re really happy that he’s human, but you’re also really upset that the Beast is gone. And I always felt like that at the end… I don’t know where I’m going with this! But I always felt like she shouldn’t be kissing that number two. And also, he’s not the same. It’s all a bit weird. […] I think the beauty of sci-fi is that anything is possible. And I think that it’s never really the end for the Doctor and Rose. Well, maybe it is, I just don’t know it. Maybe I’m the one who can’t let go.”

— Billie Piper, Doctor Who Confidential: Journey’s End