Secret Diary of a Call Girl

Secret Diary of a Call Girl
Secret Diary of a Call Girl intertitle
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
Narrated by	Billie Piper
Opening theme	"You Know I'm No Good"
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	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 based on the blog and books by the pseudonymous "Belle de Jour," starring Billie Piper as "Belle", a high-class London-based call girl. The series was written by Lucy Prebble, who is also known as the author of The Sugar Syndrome. The series has been compared to Sex and the City by many critics, mainly due to its humorous approach to sex.^[1][2]

Background

The rights to the blog were bought by Silverapples Media (Avril MacRory and Paul Duane), who co-produced the series 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 series airs in a late-night 10pm slot, as part of ITV2's "XXL Thursday" programming block.

The 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.

Plot

The series, 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 series 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 series, sometimes through voiceovers but more frequently she breaks the fourth wall and speaks directly to the audience.

Characters

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; she was once a call girl like Belle herself. Rich and glamorous, with a cutting sense of humour and cynical attitude, she reluctantly looks out for Belle; offering 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.

Response

The series 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."^[7] 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."^[8] 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."^[9]

Criticism

The series was attacked by some feminists, as Belle sells her body and some complained it objectified women.^[10] The series was also accused of glamorising and being a misrepresentation of prostitution.^[11] 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."^[12]

Episodes

In the premiere of the second series, Hannah, threatened by an extortion scandal, opens a local newspaper and sees the picture is not her as the journalist threatened. The camera then shows the false picture and what the viewer sees is an actual picture of the real Belle de Jour, Dr Brooke Magnanti. This was not known at the time and only came to light when the authors' identity was finally revealed in 2009.

Both series 1 and 2 consisted of eight episodes; the series was commissioned for a third series, even before the second series was aired. Series 2 became complicated to film due to Piper's pregnancy and body doubles were hired.^[13]

The filming of series 3 began at the start of 2009, once Piper had recovered after the birth of her son, Winston, in October 2008.^[14] Piper also stated she would be taking on the role of executive producer of the upcoming series as well.^[15]

Series 3 of Secret Diary of a Call Girl is likely to start broadcasting on ITV2 before 24th January 2010 as it is being shown on Showtime from 25th January 2010.

Broadcasters

Country	Channel
United Kingdom	ITV2
Australia	Nine Network
Argentina	I-Sat
Brazil	VH1
Belgium	Vitaya
Canada	Showcase The Movie Network
Spain	Fox
Finland	Nelonen
France	M6, Téva
Greece	Alpha TV
Germany	RTL Passion
Iceland	Skjár einn
Israel	Yes Stars Drama
Italy	Fox Life
Netherlands	RTL5
New Zealand	Prime
Norway	TVNorge
Poland	Fox Life
Slovenia	TV3
South Africa	Mnet
Sweden	Kanal 5
Turkey	Fox Life
USA	Showtime
Latin America	VH1
Middle East	Showtime Arabia

US promotional poster (Series 1)

The series was first broadcast on 27 September 2007 on ITV2 in Britain. It was watched by 1.9 million, a record (which has since been beaten by Bionic Woman) for ITV2.^[16]

In Canada. the first series began on Showcase on 22 November 2007. The second season debuted on The Movie Network on 19 January 2009.

In the United States, Showtime aired the first series 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."^[17] The second season aired on 18 January 2009. On November 6, 2009, Showtime announced that the show would return on January 25, 2010 at 10:00pm.

DVD release

The first series was released on 7 January 2008 on Region 2 DVD.^[18] 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. On the same day, a four disc box set edition consisting of both series 1 and 2 was released.^[19]

In the U.S. the Region 1 version of series 1 was released on 6 January 2009, soon afterwards, in June, series 2 was released.^[20]

Ratings

The first series averaged 1,242,125 viewers in the UK. The following weekly viewership statistics are from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board:^[21]

The series 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.^[22] The showing held on to an impressive 70% of its lead-in audience that tuned in for the fourth-season premiere of Weeds.

Notes

External links

• Secret Diary of a Call Girl at itv.com – UK Official Website on ITV (Videos of episodes cannot be viewed from outside the UK).
• 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.