Thoughts on Secret Diary of a Call Girl From a Doctor Who Fan

I've been meaning to check out Secret Diary of a Call Girl and this week, after forgetting to organize my Netflix queue, I got the first two discs comprising of the entire 8-episode first season. I finished them late last night, so of course I had to tweet my reaction immediately. Basically, I was surprised at how much I liked it, but even more surprised at why I thought I liked it so much: Doctor Who. The two shows couldn't have a more different audience. And yet...


First, there’s of course the beautiful and charming Billie Piper playing the titular Call Girl. She was my first. Er, my first companion. Um, my first Doctor Who companion, Rose Tyler. In this other show, she is just so confident, so sexy, and so personable that I’m guessing even if I’d never seen Doctor Who, I’d still like her. But knowing her as Rose Tyler definitely didn’t hurt.

Then there’s the role of best friend Ben who is played by Iddo Goldberg who is really easy on the eyes, but in a way that sort of sneaks up on you and before you know it, you’re just a little bit in love with him. I think I’ve felt this same way about all of the Doctors of my generation (Eccleston, Tennant, Smith), but the real person Ben/Iddo Goldberg reminds me of is Rory/Arthur Darvill who is one of the current companions traveling with the Doctor this season. You all should already know how I feel about Rory/Arthur, but if you don't let's say it's a mix of strong like and fan stalking (or stanning as the cool kids say these days). Never mind that physically they are rather quite similar to the point where I can totally see them playing brothers, but the fact that their characters also serve the same general purpose on their shows—sensitive and caring male confidant to the female lead—just make their similarities even more noticeable.

Don't you see the similarities?

There are also the little similarities such as both shows taking place in Britain with British actors, but I’ve always been an Anglophile so that’s nothing new. There’s the wonderful blend of humor and drama as well present in both shows, though of course presented in very different ways. Finally though, we even get an appearance of the Doctor himself in the form of Matt Smith being his cute, adorable self in a one-off guest role in the first season. I admit, seeing Rose shag the present Doctor was completely surreal, but immensely entertaining.

The Doctor and Rose. Tee hee.

I realize I didn't really talk about the show per se, but for a show about a call girl, I found it quaint/charming. Most of this I think can be attributed to how well Piper is able to guide the audience to this world without it seeming too sleazy. Her constantly breaking the fourth wall makes us less of a voyeur and more of a watchful friend. Plus I really do love her complicated relationship with Ben. Former lovers, now best friends, but maybe something more? The two have real chemistry. In a way, this show reminds me of early Weeds in that we see a woman in charge in a sketchy business which at first doesn't suit her and yet it perfectly does. I'm very much looking forward to seeing the next couple of seasons now.