Billie Piper, Ruby In the Smoke, Tonight on PBS

The first of two Billie Piper as Sally Lockhart films from BBC airs tonight at 9 (check your local PBS listings for your area).

From PBS.org:

Sally Lockhart has just struck a man dead. Not with a weapon, though she has a pistol and probably the heart to use it. Sally killed Mr. Higgs with just three words — the seven blessings. Unfortunately, she has no idea what they mean. They were sent to her by her father, just before he drowned in the South China Seas, in a letter warning Sally of danger to come.

She had hoped that her father's colleague, Mr. Higgs, might have explained the mystery. Instead he died of fear. The only other person to witness this strange turn of events is Jim Taylor, the young assistant at the Lockhart & Selby shipping firm. With his passion for solving mysteries, Jim helps Sally begin to answer the questions surrounding her father's death. Together, they are quickly drawn into a mystery filled with opium, Chinese gangs, secrets from Sally's own past — and, at the heart of it all, the Ruby of Agrapur.

PBS has an interview with Billie, and here's a taste:

"I love all the different areas of this profession and I do feel like I am finally on my way. If the right movie came along I would love to do it but I am enjoying television work at the moment. I have seen a few big action scripts but I would love to do something a bit more domestic like current affairs or a political thriller... anything with a social conscience. But we shall see what comes along."

I would love, as you know, to see Billie play CBS Iraq war journo Lara Logan in a feature. She's perfect for it, she even resembles the South African-born Logan. I hope Billie has seen this previous post and is busy finding out that Lara is a strong woman in a complex male-oriented world (still, sadly) and could be her road to mainstream film success.