Secret Diary of a Call Girl
SHOWTIME | Release Date: October 4, 2007
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 26 Critic Reviews
Positive:
11
Mixed:
10
Negative:
5
Watch Now
Buy on

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyGillian Flynn
Season 1 Review: The series shows the darker side of Belle's work without getting into that porno-punishing crap so often disguised as morality lessons. The series, like Belle, is far too smart to succumb to such an average attitude. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyClark Collis
Season 2 Review: The script portrays its subject in a dubiously good light but is gem-packed. Read full review
80
Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Season 1 Review: The emotional strains of keeping her secret from Ben (Iddo Goldberg) grow across the eight episodes and lend the season an unexpected poignancy. Read full review
80
Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
Season 1 Review: The real pleasures of this half-hour show come from its sly sense of humor and from Belle’s practical yet adventurous approach to her job. Read full review
80
SalonHeather Havrilesky
Season 1 Review: While I realize my entire description makes the show sound hopelessly shallow and unrealistic (which it is), it's also smart and well acted and at times, funny. Read full review
80
TV Guide MagazineMatt Roush
Season 1 Review: It’s titillating without being truly trashy, because it also has heart--for that, thank Bil-lie Piper (formerly of Doctor Who), who brings wit and warmth, but also a crisp and unpredictable edge, to the tricky role of Belle by night/Hannah by day. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 1 Review: Like "Sex and the City" - oh, no, not that comparison - the half hour flies by and you realize that the human relationships depicted here are interesting and worth mining and Belle's life choices are entertaining. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
Season 2 Review: At times slight--the trick of talking into the camera was never novel, and the absence of an erotic backbone made it feel partly contrived--Secret Diary of a Call Girl nevertheless ends up at an unexpected place: smartly satisfying. Read full review
70
VarietyPhil Gallo
Season 1 Review: DeMange draws out the helplessness and frustrations of the men who visit Belle, which are complemented by Tat Radcliffe's framing of the action. Read full review
70
Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
Season 1 Review: As the season's eight episodes progress, and she's forced to open her life to a bit of outside scrutiny, cracks begin to appear in the facade. And while that's not enough to turn her into a victim--we're not talking Lifetime here--it does gradually transform her into the character Showtime most needs her to be: someone whose company might actually be worth paying for. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineArthur Ryel-Lindsey
Season 1 Review: This is hour-long material forced into a 30-minute timeslot, though some of its plots are strung together--at times held up by--Piper's silent, meaningful looks at the camera. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterBarry Garron
Season 1 Review: Softer than soft porn, Call Girl is as much a documentary about high-end prostitution as it is about the conflicts and foibles of those who engage in it. Read full review
50
TimeJames Poniewozik
Season 1 Review: Hannah's normalcy is refreshing, and it keeps the show light and funny. But it also makes her seem a little dull and shallow. Read full review
50
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob Owen
Season 1 Review: Future episodes elevate the Belle and Ben relationship to a more complicated place, which bears some promise and may give Secret Diary the distinction it lacks in early episodes. Read full review
50
The New YorkerNancy Franklin
Season 1 Review: It’s not that much fun to watch an actress who, except for the occasional times when she lets loose one of her charmingly loud second-soprano laughs, seems always to be asking more of us than she’s giving, but Secret Diary of a Call Girl does get better as it goes along, although it doesn’t greatly distinguish itself from most other shows you’ve seen about young single women in the big city Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesMary McNamara
Season 1 Review: Call Girl's greatest flaw is not that it's exploitative but that it's surprisingly dull. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 1 Review: The problem with this "Diary" is that Belle simply isn't as interesting as Bridget [of "Bridget Jones's Diary."] Read full review
40
Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
Season 1 Review: The longer you watch the show (I've seen all eight episodes of its first season), the emptier and more frustrating it becomes, to the point where even the brief running time begins to feel too long. Read full review
40
The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
Season 1 Review: Secret Diary has amusing touches, but not enough to sustain an entire series. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
Season 2 Review: With the second season now starting, it needs to add a little more value. Read full review
40
The New York TimesGinia Bellafante
Season 2 Review: What follows is a neutralization of assets--sure, there’s a story line, but one that only convinces us what a dull doorknob Belle really is. Read full review
30
NewsdayVerne Gay
Season 1 Review: Call Girl is a dreary London day. A pass. Read full review
30
SlateTroy Patterson
Season 1 Review: Secret Diary of a Call Girl is a series of sketches, and its eight episodes do not trace an arc or advance a narrative. Read full review
30
L.A. WeeklyRobert Abele
Season 1 Review: Secret Diary of a Call Girl is the kind of hotly lit, coldly stylized dreck that purports to be classy, high-minded softcore but is actually as witless and dreary as, well, paid-for jollies. Read full review
10
Baltimore SunDavid Zurawik
Season 1 Review: Secret Diary is a nonstop glamorization of prostitution. Read full review
10
Philadelphia InquirerJonathan Storm
Season 1 Review: The laughless Secret Diary is billed as a comedy, but it is hardly amusing to follow the spoiled, immoral and lazy Belle as she slinks around London doing this and that with and to a lineup of wealthy men. Read full review
Current TV Shows
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 92 The Pitt: Season 2
2 87 Hacks: Season 5
3 87 Industry: Season 4
4 87 Rivals
5 87 Genndy Tartakovsky's Primal:...
6 85 The Beatles Anthology
7 85 The Traitors [UK]: Season 4
8 85 Bait: Season 1
9 84 Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!
10 83 Lord of the Flies
11 83 Riot Women: Season 1
12 83 For All Mankind: Season 5
13 81 The Muppet Show (2026)
14 80 Outlander (2014): Season 8
15 80 The Other Bennet Sister: Season 1
16 80 The Comeback: Season 3
17 80 One Piece (2023): Season 2
18 80 Dark Winds: Season 4
19 79 How to Get to Heaven From...
20 79 Gary
SEE ALL