Secret Diary of a Call Girl

This show is my new addiction. It is a British show about the life and the daily activities of Belle/ Hannah, a call girl in London. Based on the blog of a real London call girl, Secret Diary of a Call Girl doesn’t shy away from the risqué nature you would expect from a show with its premise. It stars the former companion of the Doctor, Rose aka Billie Piper. What is great about this show and is probably the cause of its addicting nature, is that the show is in diary format. So along with you and Belle, it is told in first person. Belle constantly talks to the screen telling the viewer the necessary things to understand her life as a call girl, and even her life as Hannah (her everyday, non call girl, alter ego).

Belle has an interesting life. She doesn’t think of herself as a “girl’s” girl, even though she has to maintain that image for her job. She has problems making friends with other girls because they are never interested in the same things she is. Finally, the complicated relationship she has with her best friend Ben keeps you on your feet the entire first season. Her life as Hannah isn’t much different from anyone else, except for the fact that she keeps her family and friends in the dark about her occupational activities.

Showtime wanted to rewrite the show and recast it for American audiences placing Belle in an American city and all the boring things that follow in American remakes of British television series (i.e. Coupling, and soon to follow Life on Mars). Luckily Showtime execs came to their senses and decided that the show was perfect the way it was in its British capacity. They are now showing it on Showtime in the United States. The second season is in the works for British television and will, hopefully, finish by the end of the year.