Netflix viewers have just hours to binge ‘steamy’ 00s British TV drama

The show was based on the blogs and books written by Belle de Jour (Picture: Rex Features)

A ‘flawless’ British drama series about the double life of a high-end call girl is leaving Netflix in just a few hours.

Based on the blog and books by the pseudonymous Belle de Jour, Secret Diary of a Call Girl ran for four seasons between 2007 and 2011.

It starred Billie Piper, then best known for her music career and for playing companion Rose Tyler in Doctor Who two years earlier.

Written by Lucy Prebble, the series was set in London and followed Hannah Baxter (played by Billie), a young woman who lives a secret life as a call girl, under the pseudonym Belle.

It charted her professional and private lives and the complications that arose when these separate parts of her life collided.

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Although the show found itself under fire by some who claimed it glamorised and was a misrepresentation of sex work, Billie fired back.

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‘We’ve only been exposed to the drug-fuelled, sex traffic side – but the fact is, there are middle-class, cultured, well-read women who take part in this job,’ she said at the time.

The first season of Secret Diary of a Call Girl divided critics.

‘It’s close to perfect raunchy summer television,’ Buffalo News wrote in its review.

‘It’s eye-opening stuff, at least some of it, and yet not nearly as titillating as you might suppose. Considering the subject matter, there’s surprisingly little nudity and practically nothing graphic,’ The Hollywood Reporter explained.

Secret Diary of a Call Girl followed Hannah Baxter a high-class call girl (Picture: ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

‘It would help if an actual woman stopped miming fellatio and did something interesting for a minute or two,’ The Los Angeles Times brutally shared.

Meanwhile, others said it ‘didn’t reveal many secrets’.

Despite this, reviews from fans were glowing.

‘I managed to watch the entire show, all three seasons, in the space of one weekend. Billie Piper was flawless. I loved this show, definitely one of my favourite series’ out there, and probably will be for a long time. It’s down to earth, gritty and real,’ ciara0404 posted on IMDB.

‘The show is a full-blown intimate and sexcapade that is quite honestly, brilliant. Forget your 50 Shades of Grey… this British programme will open your eyes into lives that you had heard about, never fully believed, but will blow your mind with every episode,’ stampsfightclub shared.

The show divided critics, but fans loved it (Picture: ITV/REX/Shutterstock) At the time, Billie was best known for her singing and work on Doctor Who (Picture: BBC)

‘This series is very provocative, but overall, it’s interesting and engrossing, making it a good call to watch,’ blanbrn added.

Although the full series is currently available on Netflix, it will be taken down very soon, with fans and new viewers only able to binge it until May 28.

The first season of Secret Diary of a Call Girl attracted an average of 1,242,125 viewers in the UK.

Billie and Lucy went on to team up again on I Hate Suzie (Picture: Anthony Harvey/Shutterstock)

Meanwhile, when premiering in the United States on Showtime, it debuted to the highest ratings the cable channel had seen in four years for a television premiere.

After working together on this series, Billie and Lucy went on to team up again on I Hate Suzie, which ran for two seasons from 2020.

That series, which followed the life of actress Suzie Pickles, whose life is thrown into turmoil when her phone is hacked and compromising photographs of her are leaked, was praised by critics and nominated for four Baftas and an International Emmy.

Secret Diary of a Call Girl leaves Netflix on May 28.

An earlier version of this story was published on May 5, 2025.

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