The Secret Diary of a Call Girl

"The real-life anonymous blog and book of a high-class London call girl known to the world only as "Belle de Jour" becomes this original series starring Billie Piper as Hannah, an ambitious young woman leading an exciting but dangerous double life as an expensive escort named "Belle" that not even her best friend suspects. Cherie Lunghi and Iddo Goldberg costar in this hit British-produced series." - www.sho.com/

As  odd as this sounds, my mum got me interested in this series. Yes, it is about the daily life of a high-end hooker named Belle, but it is also about a real girl called Hannah Baxter who chose to do what she loves, rather than doing what is 'socially acceptable'. It tells about how she is torn between keeping her entire life a secret, or confiding in her best friend, Ben. It demonstrates to us the sacrifices she has to make in order to do what she loves, and it shows how despite the stereotype of prostitutes only doing it to scrape some cash together to support their illegitimate children or get their next fix of drugs, some girls do it purely because they love sex, and they love the money.

Sex is unavoidable. It's in magazines, books, films and on TV. There is just no escape from it. Most of the time, sex is portrayed as a pass-time for idiots and an excuse for teens to skip school. Then there is The Secret Diary of a Call Girl. In this 3 series long show, sex is portrayed in a real-life sense. A pass-time, a release, a relaxation technique and a job that has to be done by someone. Despite the realistic tone of this drama, there is a sense of fantasy and mystery involved around Belle, and as the series' continue, you begin to get to know her, as if you are a friend, a confidante and a companion.

An interesting factor of this style drama, is the effective way Piper breaks the fourth wall with viewers, talking to us, giving us little details that would otherwise be irrelevant, but in the context, are completely necessary. The methods she uses, the casual over-the-shoulder glance into the camera in order to give us the details on her last client makes watchers feel truly involved in the drama, as if we're there on set with the likes of Billie Piper, Cherie Lunghi and Iddo Goldberg. The entire drama is completely enthralling.

This show is action-packed, exciting, sexy and just brilliant. Billie Piper is perfect for the role of Hannah and Belle, adapting between the two as if this role was made specifically for her. Piper is most well-known, i believe, for her part as Rose Tyler, the Doctor's sidekick. Since then, she has been one of my favourite actresses, adapting to any role she's given with an acting talent she could only have been born with. She is perfect for the role, she has class, beauty and a subtle humour, causing viewers to fall in love with her from the very first episode. Through out the series, Billie Piper masters the role, adding a necessary sense of maturity which is needed in the drama for obvious reasons. Billie Piper is flawless as Belle, and as Hannah. She merges the two characters, who are polar opposites of each other, into one down-to-Earth, believable girl.

Iddo Goldberg brings a gritty sense of emotion to the drama. He's the kind of guy any girl would dream of. He's gorgeous, caring, kind and hopelessly devoted to Hannah from the start. He plays the character of Ben brilliantly, demonstrating the emotional roller coaster he is forced onto when *spoiler* his love for Hannah is revealed in series one. We, as an audience, grow to love the character of Ben, and empathise with him at the best, and the worst of times. There was only one issue I had with his acting in the show, and that was on the two times he had to act as if he were drunk. These were the only moments his acting was flawed, he was unrealistic, comedic and just made a fool of himself, speaking in that hilariously stereotyped 'drunk voice' with the child-like tone and fluctuating pitch.

One of the only faults I had with the show was with actress Ashley Madekwe. Her acting was poor, her story-line unrealistic, and as a character she just didn't impress me. Madekwe played a character called Bambi in the first and second series, before falling in love with a rich client and being whisked off into the sunset on his vintage bicycle. From her very entrance, where she steals one of Belle's clients without her realising, in order to get started in the business, to her very cheesy ending, I was thoroughly disappointed. I feel her role in the drama could have been played by anyone, and it would have been an improvement if it were. This was my first experience of watching Madekwe act and i'm positive that there is a vast improvement in her other works, but this particular drama, was not her forte. She lacked emotion, physicality and the sense of class and mystery that is necessary if you want to play a persuasive and realistic escort. For a RADA student, I am scrupulously unsatisfied

I really only discovered the drama on Friday night when I was scrolling through Netflix, deciding how to pass the time. I instantly fell in love with the show and could not not put my tablet down, finally resulting in my watching all three series' in the space of one weekend. The Secret Diary of a Call Girl is brilliant. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Ta ta for now xox