| content | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Secret Diary of a Call Girl | |
|---|---|
 US promotional poster (Series 1) |
|
| Created by | Lucy Prebble |
| Starring | Billie Piper Iddo Goldberg Cherie Lunghi Callum Blue Ashley Madekwe |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 16 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV2 |
| Picture format | 16.9 |
| Original run | 28 September 2007 – present |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
Secret Diary of a Call Girl (known on-air before the watershed as Secret Diary) is a British television drama broadcast on ITV2 starring Billie Piper as Belle, a high-class London-based call girl. The eponymous call girl is based on the blogs of Belle de Jour.
The first 8 part series began on Thursday 27 September 2007 at 10pm. The second 8 part series began on Thursday 11 September 2008 at 10pm.
Contents |
Background
The rights to the blog were bought by Silverapples Media (Avril MacRory and Paul Duane), who co-produced the show with Tiger Aspect Productions. The series was initially developed with Channel 41 and when Channel 4 passed on the project, ITV took over.citation needed
The show airs in a late-night 10pm slot, as part of ITV2's XXL Thursday programming block.
The show's theme is "You Know I'm No Good" by Amy Winehouse.
Episodes
The series was commissioned for a third series, even before the second series was aired. Filming is expected to begin at the start of 2009, once Piper has recovered after the birth of her son, Winston, in October 2008.2
International airings
The show began its run on Showcase in Canada on November 22, 2007.
In the United States, Showtime will air the first series eight half-hour episodes beginning in June 2008, with a commitment for an additional 12 episodes.citation needed Robert Greenblatt, Showtime's president of entertainment, initially considered buying format rights and recasting it with American actors, but he ultimately decided that the original was "fantastic"; Greenblatt also noted that "it's very hard to find American actresses who are comfortable doing nudity."3
In Sweden, Channel 5 started to air the series in early April 2008.
In Israel, yes Stars 1 started to air the series on April 6 2008, under the name "The secret confessions of a high class call girl". The show was screened simultaneously on the channel's broadband website and had a massive launch campaign over the internet.
In New Zealand, Prime started to air the series at 9:30pm Thursday, 1 May 2008.
In Latin America, VH1 started to air the series at 10:00pm Monday, 5 May 2008, under the name "Diario de una Prostituta" (Template:Land-en).
In France, Téva started to air the series on 10 May 2008.
In Australia, the Nine Network started to air the series on the 2nd of September, 2008, with two episodes being screened in an hour block.
In Belgium, Vitaya started to air the series on 6 September 2008.
In The Netherlands, RTL5 started to air the series on 23 September 2008
In Poland, Fox Life started to air the series on 14 November 2008.
DVD release
The first series was released on 7 January 2008 on Region 2 DVD.4 Several of the backing tracks that were used in the television series were not in the DVD, mainly because of licensing issues.citation needed
Viewing figures
The first series averaged 1,242,125 viewers. The following weekly viewership statistics are from the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board:5
| Episode number |
Series number |
Date of first broadcast |
Total viewers |
Series average |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Series 1 | 27 September 2007 | 1,997,000 | 1,242,125 |
| 2 | 4 October, 2007 | 1,475,000 | ||
| 3 | 11 October, 2007 | 1,098,000 | ||
| 4 | 18 October, 2007 | 1,108,000 | ||
| 5 | 25 October, 2007 | 1,077,000 | ||
| 6 | 1 November, 2007 | 1,003,000 | ||
| 7 | 8 November, 2007 | 1,194,000 | ||
| 8 | 15 November, 2007 | 985,000 | ||
| 1 | Series 2 | 11 September 2008 | 905,000 | 794,500 |
| 2 | 11 September, 2008 | 909,000 | ||
| 3 | 18 September, 2008 | 831,000 | ||
| 4 | 25 September, 2008 | 660,000 | ||
| 5 | 2 October, 2008 | 705,000 | ||
| 6 | 9 October, 2008 | 757,000 | ||
| 7 | 16 October, 2008 | 712,000 | ||
| 8 | 23 October, 2008 | 711,000 |
References
- ^ BBC News, Piper set to star in TV sex drama, 2007-02-12.
- ^ Hilton, Beth (2008-05-27). "ITV2 orders third series of 'Call Girl'", Digital Spy. Retrieved on 27 May 2008.
- ^ US networks look to British TV for content that can be Americanized into domestic hit, an Associated Press article via the International Herald Tribune
- ^ Secret Diary of a Call Girl: Series 1 (UK - DVD R2) in News > Releases at DVDActive
- ^ "BARB Weekly Ratings", Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (7 November 2007).
External links
- Secret Diary of a Call Girl at itv.com
- Secret Diary of a Call Girl at the Internet Movie Database
- Secret Diary Of A Call Girl On Seat42f (currently unavailable)
- Secret Diary of a Call Girl at Showcase.ca
- Belle De Jour blog upon which the TV series is based.
- Secret Diary of a Call Girl Wiki
This article relating to a TV programme from the UK is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
