Doctor Who has rescued the career of former teenage pop star Billie Piper who was today honoured at an awards ceremony for her successful breakthrough into an acting career.

Piper, who faded from the limelight after her second album in 2000 amid lurid media stories of her rocky marriage to the ginger-haired DJ Chris Evans, was voted the most exciting new face of 2005 by Times readers because of her appearance in the BBC’s revival of the classic science fiction series.

She impressed audiences with her portrayal of Rose, the Doctor’s sidekick, playing alongside Christopher Eccleston as the Doctor in the first and David Tennant in the second series written by Russell T. Davies.

Daniel Radcliffe, the star of the Harry Potter movies, handed Piper her prize - The Times Breakthrough Award - at the South Bank Awards today.

She said yesterday that she was dedicated to acting. "I care so much more about acting than I do for music," she said.

"I’m having the time of my life at the moment and this (prize) just makes it even better. Doctor Who has affected me personally. The stories are amazing, but it’s bloody hard work."

The awards, which celebrate the arts from dance to television, have a reputation for highlighting work that has been overlooked for other prizes.

John McGahern, the Irish novelist, beat Zadie Smith and Julian Barnes to take the literature award, despite being the only shortlisted candidate not to have been nominated for the Man Booker Prize. His book, Memoir, recounts his childhood in rural Ireland in the 1940s and 50s.

He thanked his sisters, who found the bag of letters in his father’s house that formed the basis for his memoir. "They asked me to write the story," he said. "When I protested, they said: ‘What else are you good for at this stage?’"

Richard Hawley, a little known Sheffield singer-songwriter who once played guitar with Pulp, beat Gorillaz and Kate Bush in the pop music award for his album Coles Corner. His former colleague, Pulp singer Jarvis Cocker, handed him his prize.

Wallace and Gromit, the plasticine figures who earned $183 million (£103m) at cinemas worldwide last year, beat The Constant Gardener and Bullet Boy to win the film award.

Christopher Lord, who created the characters with Nick Park, apologised for Gromit’s absence. "Sorry Gromit couldn’t be here. He had to see a dog about a man. I was warned by thespians never to work with children or animals. Gromit walks away with it and I would like to say, Well done Gromit. Buster Keaton would be proud of you."

Other winners of the South Bank Awards

The actress Helen Mirren and the cast of Elizabeth I won the 2006 prize for TV Drama; Glaswegian opera director David McVicar won the opera prize; landscape painter John Virtue received the prize for visual arts; Phillida Lloyd and the cast of Mary Stuart took the theatre prize; Irish novelist John McGahern the prize for literature; Russell Maliphant and Sylvie Guillem were awarded the prize for dance; the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra won the classical prize; and the decibel prize for culturally diverse work was awarded to director Madani Younis.

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