Secret Diary of a Call Girl 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.
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 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 theme tune for the fourth series is Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps, a cover by Doris Day, as the official song is by Cake. The song runs whilst the intertitle plays, showing Belle applying make-up and getting dressed, interspersed with shots of urban London.
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 had become 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 Series 2 and 3 have relied heavily on a story arc, usually in the form of Hannah's romances, namely Alex and Duncan.
Hannah is a university graduate living in London and – unbeknownst to her family – is also the high class call girl known as "Belle". Hannah is well educated, very eloquent and intelligent. She has expensive tastes and is at times slightly snobbish. She loves her job as a call girl as she is being paid handsomely to do something she does very well. She comes from an average middle-class family who live outside of London; she's close to her father but remains somewhat distant from her older sister who is married with an infant son. Hannah reveals she has tried several professions but struggles to keep down a steady job (as revealed in series two). Hannah is an expert at leading a double life, and is a meticulous planner – her specialty is role-playing fantasies. Hannah is a self-employed call girl, having left Stephanie's agency during the stories run.
