Secret Diary Of A Call Girl: Series One

After cutting her acting teeth as Doctor Who’s tasty companion Rose Tyler, former teen pop-sensation Billie Piper seemed destined for a career as a period drama actress with her post Who output. That all changed when she took on this role of working girl Belle in this superbly sexy and often very frank ITV2 drama series. Piper is in sparkling and sensual form here as sexually explicit prostitute Belle, who will be whatever or whoever her clients want her to be, from a whip wielding dominatrix to a very demure young lady.

The interesting thing about this series is that it is not only highly-charged sexually and frank in its portrayal of the ‘oldest profession in the world’, but it also shows the character’s alter ego of Hannah, the legal secretary who has a very responsible and high profile job that unfortunately involves a lot of unsocial hours. The fact that Hannah has her own clothes, friends and life is amazing in itself and the very fact that even her parents and best friend have no idea that Hannah is in fact a very skilled professional of a very different nature and not the girl-next-door she appears to be.

The series features some great turns by Piper as the lead, Cherie Lunghie (as her madam) and Toyah Wilcox (herself a fellow pop star turned actress) as her unknowing mum. This first series based on the diary of unknown call girl Belle de Jour offers us a glimpse into a world many of us are unaware of, or won’t admit to knowing of, and offers us an insight into the life and mind of someone who has a very different lifestyle to many of us, making it very watchable and involving viewing indeed.

Released on 7th January 2008 by Warner Home Video.

Written by Phil Allely.