Secret Diary of a Call Girl

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Secret Diary of a Call Girl
US promotional poster (Season 1)
Created by	Lucy Prebble
Directed by	Yann Demange Susan Tully Peter Lydon Fraser Macdonald
Starring	Billie Piper Iddo Goldberg Cherie Lunghi Callum Blue Ashley Madekwe
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	16 (List of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Jacquie Glanville
Editor(s)	Richard Mark Elson Jim Hampton
Running time	22 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV2
Picture format	16.9
Original run	28 September 2007 – present
External links
Official website

Secret Diary of a Call Girl (known on-air before the watershed in the UK as Secret Diary) is a British television drama broadcast on ITV2 starring Billie Piper as "Belle", a high-class London-based call girl. The television program is based on the book, The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl, which is compiled of blogs written by a purportedly real-life call girl named "Belle de Jour". The show was written by Lucy Prebble, who is also known as the author of The Sugar Syndrome. The show has been compared to "Sex and the City" by many critics, mainly due to its humourous approach to sex.^[1][2]

Contents 1 Background 2 Plot 3 Characters 4 Response 4.1 Criticism 5 Episodes 6 Broadcasters 7 DVD release 8 Ratings 9 Notes 10 External links

[edit] Background

The rights to the blog were bought by Silverapples Media (Avril MacRory and Paul Duane), who co-produced the show with Tiger Aspect Productions. The series was initially developed with Channel 4^[3] and when Channel 4 passed on the project, ITV took over.

The show airs in a late-night 10pm slot, as part of ITV2's "XXL Thursday" programming block.

The show's theme song is an instrumental excerpt of "You Know I'm No Good" by Amy Winehouse; this runs whilst the intertitle plays, showing Belle applying make-up and getting dressed.

[edit] Plot

The show, set in London, revolves around the life of Hannah Baxter, a seemingly normal woman, who lives a secret life as a call girl, under the pseudonym Belle de Jour. The show focuses on her professional and private life and its complications as they collide. However, she receives help and advice from her best friend Ben, and fellow call girl Bambi.

Hannah, as the main character also narrates the show, sometimes through voiceovers but more frequently she breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the audience.

[edit] Characters

“	I'm very high class, which means I charge by the hour -- and I charge a lot.[4]	”
	— Belle

Belle/Hannah (Billie Piper)

Hannah is a university graduate living in London and — unbeknownst to her family — also the high class call girl "Belle".

Ben (Iddo Goldberg)

Ben is Hannah's best friend and ex-boyfriend from her university days. Ben is the manager of a London bar. His relationship with his on and off girlfriend Vanessa is made complicated by his feelings for Hannah. He knows about her secret life.

Alex (Callum Blue)

Alex is a doctor whom Belle initially mistakes for a client in season two. They date and begin a relationship, while Hannah keeps Alex unaware of her secret night life as the call girl "Belle".

Stephanie (Cherie Lunghi)

Stephanie is Belle's madame; like Belle, she was once a call girl herself. Rich and glamorous with a cutting sense of humour and cynical attitude, she reluctantly looks out for Belle and offers her advice and help. Actress Cherie Lunghi has said "there's a maternal aspect to [Stephanie]."^[5]

Bambi (Ashley Madekwe)

Bambi is a naïve wannabe-escort who is being mentored by Belle in season two. Fun-loving Bambi is interested in prostitution for only one reason -- money.

[edit] Response

The show was mainly well received by critics, with Tim Goodman of The San Francisco Chronicle saying, "there's surprise at how much you've underestimated its quality."^[6] It was graded A- by Entertainment Weekly, which said, "you will find a rather fascinating drama." Entertainment Weekly also commented on Billie Piper's portrayal of Belle, saying, "Piper is extraordinary, intermittently talking right to the camera in a straightforward, conspiratorial manner, the way a prostitute who's really good at her job would talk to a client."^[7] It was less well received however by The New York Times, which said, "Secret Diary has amusing touches, but not enough to sustain an entire series."^[8]

[edit] Criticism

The series was attacked by some feminists, as Belle sells her body and some complained it objectified women.^[9] The Show was also accused of glamorising and being a misrepresentation of prostitution.^[10] Piper hit back at the claims saying, "We've only been exposed to the drug-fuelled, sex traffic side – but the fact is, there are middle-class, cultured, well-read women who take part in this job."^[11]

[edit] Episodes

The series was commissioned for a third season, even before the second season was aired. Filming began at the start of 2009, once Piper had recovered after the birth of her son, Winston, in October 2008.^[12] Piper also stated she would be taking on the role of executive producer of the upcoming series too.^[13]

[edit] Broadcasters

The show was first broadcast on 27 September 2007 on ITV2 in Britain. It was watched by 1.9 million, a record for ITV2,^[14] which was later beaten by Bionic Woman which attracted 3 million, the largest figures for a non-terrestrial channel.

The show began its run on Showcase in Canada on November 22, 2007. The second season debuted on The Movie Network on 19 January 2009 at 9:30 p.m. ET.

In the United States, Showtime aired the first season of eight half-hour episodes beginning in June 2008, with a commitment for an additional 12 episodes.^{[citation needed]} Robert Greenblatt, Showtime's president of entertainment, initially considered buying format rights and recasting it with American actors, but he ultimately decided that the original was "fantastic"; Greenblatt also noted that "it's very hard to find American actresses who are comfortable doing nudity."^[15] The second season aired on 18 January 2009.

Country	Channel
United Kingdom	ITV2
USA	Showtime
Canada	Showcase The Movie Network
Sweden	Kanal 5
Israel	Yes Stars Drama
New Zealand	Prime
France	Téva
Australia	Nine Network
Belgium	Vitaya
Netherlands	RTL5
Poland	Fox Life
Slovenia	TV3
Turkey	Fox Life
Italy	Fox Life
Finland	Nelonen
Latin America	VH1
Middle East	Showtime Arabia

[edit] DVD release

The first season was released on 7 January 2008 on Region 2 DVD.^[16] Several of the backing tracks that were used in the television series were not in the DVD, mainly because of licensing issues. Series 2 was released in the United Kingdom on 2 March 2009, and like the first series classified 18.

In the U.S. the Region 1 version of season 1 was released on 6 January 2009, soon afterwards, in June, season 2 was released.^[17]

[edit] Ratings

The first season averaged 1,242,125 viewers in the UK. The following weekly viewership statistics are from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board:^[18]

Episode number	Series number	Date of first broadcast	Total viewers	Series average
1	Series 1	27 September 2007	1,997,000	1,242,125
2		4 October, 2007	1,475,000
3		11 October, 2007	1,098,000
4		18 October, 2007	1,108,000
5		25 October, 2007	1,077,000
6		1 November, 2007	1,003,000
7		8 November, 2007	1,194,000
8		15 November, 2007	985,000
1	Series 2	11 September 2008	905,000	794,500
2		11 September, 2008	909,000
3		18 September, 2008	831,000
4		25 September, 2008	660,000
5		2 October, 2008	705,000
6		9 October, 2008	757,000
7		16 October, 2008	712,000
8		23 October, 2008	711,000

The show premiered in the U.S. on Showtime to the highest ratings the cable channel had seen in four years for a television premiere. The series debut reached almost one million viewers, its closest rival, Dexter, premiered to 604,000. The showing held on to an impressive 70% of its lead-in audience that tuned in for the fourth-season premiere of Weeds.

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Secret Diary of a Call Girl at itv.com – UK Official Website on ITV (Videos of episodes cannot be viewed from computers in the United States and other countries).
• Secret Diary of a Call Girl – Official Website on Showcase (showcase.ca) (Canada) (menu provides link to its blog).
• Secret Diary of a Call Girl – Official Website on Showtime (sho.com) (United States) (menu provides links to characters and their fan-edited "Wiki guides").
• Secret Diary of a Call Girl – Official Website on The Movie Network (Canada).
• Secret Diary of a Call Girl at the Internet Movie Database
• Belle de Jour: Diary of a London Call Girl – Original Blog, hosted on Blogspot.com, upon which the TV series is based.

v • d • e Secret Diary of a Call Girl Episode list Characters Hannah Baxter Cast Billie Piper • Cherie Lunghi • Iddo Goldberg • Callum Blue • Ashley Madekwe • Toyah Willcox • Stuart Organ Other media The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl Lucy Prebble • Belle de Jour