When Secret Diary of a Call Girl arrived on ITV2 in 2007, it caused exactly the sort of controversy its producers must have expected.
Billie Piper, fresh in many viewers’ minds from Doctor Who, was suddenly playing Hannah Baxter – better known professionally as Belle – a high-class London escort who appeared perfectly comfortable with her unusual choice of career.
There were designer clothes, expensive hotels, wealthy clients and plenty of sex. Belle spoke directly to the audience, frequently explaining the unwritten rules of her profession as though she were letting us in on a fascinating secret.
Critics immediately asked whether the programme was glamorising prostitution.
Nearly two decades later, however, there’s another interesting question to ask.
How realistic was Belle’s world in the first place?
Belle Wasn’t Entirely Fictional
The most important thing to remember is that Secret Diary of a Call Girl wasn’t simply dreamed up by a television writer.
The series was inspired by the enormously successful Belle de Jour blog and subsequent books, written anonymously by someone claiming to have worked as a high-class London escort.
For years there was speculation about whether Belle actually existed.
Then, in 2009, the author revealed herself as Dr Brooke Magnanti, a research scientist who said she had worked as an escort while completing her PhD.
That revelation gave the television series an interesting degree of credibility. Hannah Baxter wasn’t Brooke Magnanti, and television inevitably embellished the story, but the world that inspired the character had at least partly been experienced by the woman writing about it.
Magnanti also described an experience that didn’t fit comfortably with the conventional screen portrayal of prostitution. She said she had chosen the work, charged £300 an hour and had been fortunate not to have experienced the darker side of the industry.
That was precisely what made both her writing and the television adaptation so controversial.
Billie Piper’s Belle Was Very Much a Luxury Escort
The programme made an important distinction that could easily be missed.
Belle wasn’t portrayed as representative of every sex worker in Britain.
She occupied a very particular part of the industry: expensive, independent-minded and operating in affluent London surroundings.
That’s one area where the programme arguably got something right.
The escort market isn’t one homogeneous business. At the premium end, particularly in London, clients can spend substantial amounts of money arranging several hours with a companion, an evening engagement or an overnight booking.
The modern market also puts considerable emphasis on presentation.
Look at the websites of today’s established high-class London escorts and you’ll find professionally photographed profiles, detailed biographies, availability information and clearly presented rates and booking options.
In that respect, Belle’s world of carefully constructed image, expensive presentation and affluent clients hasn’t disappeared.
If anything, the internet has made that side of the business far more sophisticated.
Where the Programme Probably Glamourised Things
The criticism directed at the programme in 2007 wasn’t without justification.
Belle’s working life could look remarkably enjoyable.
Her clients were frequently affluent and manageable, the surroundings were glamorous and potentially frightening situations rarely overwhelmed the light, playful tone of the programme.
Contemporary critics were divided over that portrayal. Some argued that Belle represented a genuine, if relatively unusual, experience of sex work. Others believed the series presented an unrealistically attractive version of an industry in which many people have very different experiences.
Both observations can exist together.
Belle’s particular experience didn’t have to be fictional simply because it wasn’t typical.
But television naturally gravitated towards the most entertaining version of that experience.
A drama about a confident, witty woman putting on designer lingerie and meeting wealthy men in London hotels was always going to be easier to sell than a programme primarily concerned with administration, cancellations, screening clients and waiting for the telephone to ring.
The Agency Was More Important Than It Looked
One surprisingly realistic aspect of the series was Belle’s relationship with her agent, Stephanie, played by Cherie Lunghi.
Stephanie wasn’t simply there to provide another character for Belle to talk to. She represented an important part of how that section of the industry worked.
The agent found clients, organised appointments and provided a degree of separation between the escort and the person making the booking.
The same basic principle survives today.
A professional London escort agency acts as an intermediary between companions and clients. Rather than relying solely on an individual online advertisement, clients can browse profiles and make enquiries through an established agency platform.
Of course, Secret Diary made the relationship considerably more entertaining than everyday administration is likely to be.
Nobody was going to commission four series of Billie Piper answering booking enquiries and checking her diary.
The Biggest Change Would Be Technology
If Belle began working today, this is probably where her life would look most different.
In the mid-2000s, the internet was already transforming the escort business – indeed, Belle herself became famous because of a blog.
But smartphones, instant messaging, sophisticated websites and social media have since changed expectations dramatically.
A modern client can browse profiles privately from his phone, compare companions, look through extensive galleries and research an agency before making contact.
Escorts can also have considerably more control over how their professional identities are presented online.
That makes the distinction between Hannah and Belle particularly interesting today.
Hannah was the private person. Belle was the professional persona presented to clients.
Many modern escorts make a similar distinction. A professional name, photographs and carefully written profile can create a very public identity while revealing surprisingly little about the private individual behind it.
In that respect, one of the show’s central themes has aged remarkably well.
What About the Clients?
The programme also challenged another television stereotype.
Belle’s clients weren’t all lonely old men.
Some were wealthy businessmen. Some were younger. Some wanted sex, while others had particular fantasies or wanted companionship and attention.
Naturally, television selected the most interesting encounters, but the broader point was credible: people book escorts for different reasons.
The programme understood that the transaction wasn’t always simply about sex.
Sometimes Belle was performing a character. Sometimes she was listening. Sometimes the attraction was the temporary intimacy of spending time with somebody who was completely outside the client’s everyday life.
That’s probably one of the reasons the programme had more longevity than its provocative marketing initially suggested.
Underneath the lingerie and comedy was a series about people compartmentalising their lives.
So, Was Secret Diary of a Call Girl Realistic?
Yes and no.
It would be a mistake to watch Secret Diary of a Call Girl as a documentary about sex work in Britain. It concentrated on an unusually glamorous corner of the industry and deliberately turned that world into entertaining television.
The controversy surrounding it was therefore understandable.
But dismissing the whole thing as fantasy would be equally simplistic.
Belle de Jour really did turn out to have been an escort. High-end London agencies continue to represent companions and arrange bookings for clients. Escorts can maintain professional identities separate from their private lives, and discretion, presentation and reputation remain important to that end of the business.
Perhaps the least realistic thing wasn’t Belle herself.
It was how effortlessly everything seemed to happen around her.
Real life inevitably contains more waiting, more administration, more awkward conversations and fewer perfectly timed punchlines.
But then nobody watches television for the paperwork.
Nearly two decades after Billie Piper first introduced viewers to Belle, Secret Diary of a Call Girl remains an intriguing time capsule of a particular moment in British television – and of a London escort world that has changed enormously while remaining surprisingly recognisable.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was Secret Diary of a Call Girl based on a true story?
The series was inspired by the Belle de Jour blog and books, which described the experiences of an anonymous London escort. The writer was later revealed as Dr Brooke Magnanti, who said she had worked as an escort while completing her PhD. The television series fictionalised and adapted those experiences rather than presenting them as a literal account.
Was Billie Piper’s character Belle a real person?
Not exactly. Billie Piper played Hannah Baxter, or Belle, a fictionalised television character inspired by the experiences described by Brooke Magnanti. The character and storylines were adapted for television, so Belle shouldn’t be viewed as a direct portrayal of Magnanti herself.
How accurate was Secret Diary of a Call Girl?
The programme contained elements grounded in the high-end London escort world that inspired it, including professional personas, agencies, affluent clients and the importance of discretion and presentation. However, it also concentrated on a particularly glamorous part of the industry and inevitably made situations more entertaining for television.
Why was Secret Diary of a Call Girl controversial?
Much of the controversy centred on whether the programme glamorised prostitution. Belle was portrayed as confident, independent and often comfortable with her work, which differed significantly from many conventional portrayals of sex work on British television.
How would Belle’s world be different today?
Technology would probably create the biggest difference. Smartphones, instant messaging, sophisticated websites and online profiles have transformed how people present themselves, research agencies and communicate. At the same time, the distinction between a private identity and a carefully managed professional persona remains one of the show’s most recognisable themes.