Secret Diary of a Call Girl

The emotional strains of keeping her secret from Ben (Iddo Goldberg) grow across the eight episodes and lend the season an unexpected poignancy.

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.

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.

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.

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.

DeMange draws out the helplessness and frustrations of the men who visit Belle, which are complemented by Tat Radcliffe's framing of the action.

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.

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.

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.

Hannah's normalcy is refreshing, and it keeps the show light and funny. But it also makes her seem a little dull and shallow.

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.

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

Call Girl's greatest flaw is not that it's exploitative but that it's surprisingly dull.

The problem with this "Diary" is that Belle simply isn't as interesting as Bridget [of "Bridget Jones's Diary."]

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.

Secret Diary has amusing touches, but not enough to sustain an entire series.

Call Girl is a dreary London day. A pass.

Secret Diary of a Call Girl is a series of sketches, and its eight episodes do not trace an arc or advance a narrative.

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.

Secret Diary is a nonstop glamorization of prostitution.