“In a world of twelve-year-olds in sexy boots and grannies in sparkly minidresses, the surest way to tell the prostitute walking into a hotel at Heathrow is to look for the lady in the designer suit.” — from Belle du Jour and loosely used in the opening montage of The Secret Diary of a Call Girl

The UK’s ITV decided to bring the words of famed blogger, Belle du Jour to the small screen in The Secret Diary of a Call Girl. The show went on air in 2007 and has since been exported to Canada, New Zealand, and now Showtime (cable channel) in the US. Showtime reports that it had an audience of well over 1 Million households so it is the strongest debut of any new cable series this year. There are mixed reviews of the show and the topic of prostitution. See Guardian UK, Stuff NZ, Jezebel, and Boston.

The show certainly rivals Desperate Housewives and Sex and the City for showing more lingerie than anything else on TV. The star is Billie Piper and she’s done a lot of other shows including Dr. Who in the UK. Billie got help from Belle and you can read more about their time together from the real Belle.

Here’s Billie as Belle: