Of Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Inventive Camera Work

So, going back to my Doctor Who theme, the actress that played Rose Tyler has of course gone on to other projects since her work on the show. After finishing her role as the first Companion in the new Doctor Who series, Billie Piper (link to the main fan site for her) went on to play the starring role in ITV2's 'Secret Diary of a Call Girl'.

The show follows the story of Hannah Baxter, who leads a double life; Her family and friends think she works as a night time legal secretary, but in reality she works as Belle, a high-class London prostitute. Throughout the show, the problems that come up revolve around keeping the job a secret from the people she knows. Later in the show, the problem becomes telling people about what she does, not wanting to lie to them, as she tries to mesh her profession in with her actual life. Revolving around secrecy and sarcasm, the show has a brilliantly snarky feel, and makes no apologies for the amount of sexual references and innuendos, all approached with a humorous air. It's a different lifestyle, and the show makes that very clear. (Because of it's cavalier approach to sexual material, it's been compared to 'Sex and the City'. But myself, and other reviewers for the show, disagree. You can read about that here.)

The show started in 2007, the first acting job Billie Piper did after leaving Doctor Who. It's such a drastic change from her portrayal of Rose Tyler that she's barely recognizable at first. But you quickly get used to it, as she completely owns the role, playing up every bit of it and making it a phenomenal performance. The character of Belle is unapologetic, brassy, and confident, and Piper plays it brilliantly.

One unusual factor about the show is that Belle often breaks the fourth wall, as in she talks directly to the audience. Usually to tell us what's going on in her mind, or to add some ironic comment about whatever situation happens to be going on at the time. Here's a link to an example.

The last thing I want to point out about this show is that, while filming season 2, Piper was pregnant with her first child. Playing a prostitute in a very adult show, you may wonder how this was possible. But with some inventive camera work and a couple of body doubles, there are only two shots where the pregnancy is blatantly obvious, and even then you have to work to catch them. I didn't even realize this fact about season 2 until after I'd seen the entire thing and read an article on it.

If you don't mind the (vaguely) uncensored sexual content, it's definitely a show worth checking out. The fourth and final season is premiering in January on ITV2.