Secret Diary Of A Call Girl

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 and ENRON. The series has been compared to Sex and the City by many critics, mainly due to its humorous approach to sex. After months of speculation it has been reported that Piper has signed a £2 million deal to reprise her role for a fourth and final series, which is currently scheduled to air on ITV2 beginning 27th January 2011.

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[5] 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 for the first two series was an excerpt of "You Know I'm No Good" by Amy Winehouse, followed in the third series by a fully instrumental version. The song runs whilst the intertitle plays, showing Belle applying make-up and getting dressed, interspersed with shots of urban London.

Plot

The series, set in London, revolves around the life of Hannah Baxter (Billie Piper), a seemingly normal woman, who lives a secret life as a call girl, under the pseudonym Belle. 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 (Iddo Goldberg), in most situations. Upon the introduction of fellow call girl Bambi (Ashley Madekwe) in the second series premiere, Hannah has became close friends with her, giving her advice regarding prostitution.
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. During the first series the episodes are held together by a light story arc, however, from Series 2 onwards story arcs have featured more predominately, usually in the form of Hannah's romances, namely Alex and Duncan, in Series 2 and 3 respectively.