Featured TV on DVD Review: Secret Diary of a Call Girl: Season Four

August 8, 2011

Secret Diary of a Call Girl: Season Four - Buy from Amazon

Season One or Secret Diary of a Call Girl came out on January of 2009 and while the DVD arrived late, I was able to review it a while later and really liked it. Season Two came out just six months later and I felt there was an improvement. I was looking forward to watching season three, but that's not what's coming out this week. This week the fourth and Final Season is coming out. So what happened to season three and will missing those eight episodes affect the final season?

The Show

The season begins with a "Previously On..." segment, which is good news, as apparently a lot happened in season three. For one, Hannah Baxter / Belle de Jour (Billie Piper) became a successful author writing about the real life adventures a high class escort. However, the relationship between her and her publisher was a rocky one. Bambi (Ashley Madekwe), a fellow escort, was in a stable relationship and was even getting married, which shook Hannah's view that prostitutes couldn't have boyfriends.

At the beginning of the season, Stephanie, Hannah's former madame, is arrested and she asked Hannah to take over her business while she is incarcerated. Oh, and take care of Poppy (Lily James), Stephanie's daughter, who doesn't know what her mom or Hannah does for a living. Awkward. Finally, Ben (Iddo Goldberg) returns, which is something she's been dreading, as she still doesn't know if she wants a relationship, or if she should stick with the rule about prostitutes having no boyfriends. And all of that happens in the first episode.

For the rest of the season, Hannah has to juggle these three new responsibilities (boyfriend, madam, surrogate mother) as well as her usual assortment of clients. This season is generally filled with a lot of strife. Having enough time for Ben is always a challenge. While now she has to also deal with Charlotte (Gemma Chan) one of Stephanie's other girls who is trying to take over while Stephanie is away. Plus there's the need to protect Poppy from the truth, which she fails at pretty quickly. Then she gets a chance to travel to the United States to develop her book into movie, and when she gets back...

When it was announced there would be a fourth season of Secret Diary of a Call Girl, they knew it would be the last season. Because of this, they knew they had to wrap things up in the end. The main thread is the relationship between Hannah and Ben and most of the other elements orbit around that main point. This does make this season more emotional than the other two, especially the ending. That doesn't mean it doesn't still have the same humor we've come to know. I also liked in introduction of Poppy, who give a much needed sense of innocence to the early episodes. While on the opposite end of the scale, Charlotte's more prominent role as Belle's rival adds a very fun edge to the show. Not everything new works. For instance, Harry Keegan is introduced as Hannah's stalkerish client / potential boyfriend. He's creepy and a corrupt cop, and he seems like someone she should try to avoid at all costs.

The Extras

The only extras are some text-based biographies and a behind-the-scenes image gallery.

The Verdict

I'm still confused why they didn't release season three of Secret Diary of a Call Girl before Season Four and while the changes were a bit jarring at first, it is still worth checking out. The extras are very limited and until there's some word of a DVD release for season three, I can't say if this is worth picking up. Maybe there will be a full-series Megaset coming out and that will be a better deal than missing one season out of four.


- Submitted by:

Filed under: Video Review