Secret Diary of a Call Girl

Billie Piper (Actor) .. Belle/Hannah

Born: September 22, 1982 in Swindon, Wiltshire

Best Known For: Being Doctor Who's sidekick and high-flying escort Belle de Jour.

Early-life: Born Lianne Paul Piper on September 22, 1982, in Swindon, Wiltshire. Mum and dad Paul and Mandy changed her name three weeks after registering her birth. She has three younger siblings Charlie, Harley and Ellie. She attended Brookfield Primary School and Bradon Forest Secondary before joining the nationally famous ranks of the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London.

Career: After being talent spotted in Saturday morning ITV show Scratchy and Co, Piper signed a record contract at 15, and subsequently became the youngest ever artist to go straight to the top of the UK singles chart with Because We Want To. More hits followed and two successful albums before she quit music in 2003 to become an actress. Her early roles in The Canterbury Tales and one-off drama Bella and the Boys earned rave reviews. Her biggest break came in 2004 when it was announced she would be Doctor Who's companion Rose Tyler in the revived BBC sci-fi series. She's also appeared in The Ruby in the Smoke, Mansfield Park, The Shadow in the North and Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

Quote: 'Weight doesn't matter as long as you're happy with yourself.'

Trivia: Piper won the Princess of Pop gong at the 1998 Smash Hits Awards.

Darren Clarke (Actor) .. Slave

Simon Kunz (Actor) .. Belle's accountant

Iddo Goldberg (Actor) .. Ben

Cherie Lunghi (Actor) .. Stephanie

Born: April 04, 1952 in London

Best Known For: The Manageress and a series of coffee adverts.

Early-life: Cherie Mary Lunghi was born on April 4, 1952, in Nottingham, the daughter of an Italian and his English wife. She was raised in London by her mother and her aunts after her father returned to Italy. Cherie began acting as a child on radio and in TV and eventually studied at Homerton College, Cambridge. Her acting training came at the Arts Educational School and the Central School of Speech and Drama. She has also been keen on dancing, aerobics, horse-riding, painting and playing the piano from an early age.

Career: Lunghi started out on stage, but made her TV debut in a 1968 episode of the BBC's classic Sherlock Holmes series. She's worked steadily ever since on the small and big screens, cropping up in the likes of Edward & Mrs Simpson, Excalibur, Tales of the Unexpected, The Monocled Mutineer, The Mission, and Ellis Island. However, it was popular footballing drama The Manageress which made her a major TV star in 1989. Since then, Lunghi has appeared in the likes of The Buccaneers, A Question of Guilt, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Jack and Sarah, EastEnders, Cutting It, Midsomer Murders and Casualty 1906. She was a Strictly Come Dancing contestant in 2008.

Quote: 'It's intriguing to get your head around people who have evil intent. It's pretty complicated.'

Trivia: Lunghi has narrated Who Do You Think You Are?

Sally Dexter (Actor) .. Mistress Sirona

Born: April 15, 1960 in Yorkshire, UK

Best Known For: Playing Faith Dingle in Emmerdale.

Early-life: Sally Julia Dexter was born on April 15, 1960 in Yorkshire. She studied at Chiltern Edge School, The Henley College and London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Career: Dexter has made appearances on the stage and screen. She has had roles in TV in A Touch of Frost, Dalziel and Pascoe, Night and Day and Family. On stage, she has appeared in the play Dalliance, for which she won an Olivier award in 1987, as well as Billy Elliot the Musical, Macbeth and Spice Girls musical Viva Forever. She was nominated for an Olivier award for her portrayal of Nancy in Oliver! in its 1994 run. More recently, she has played Mrs Chynoweth in Poldark and Faith Dingle in Emmerdale.

Quote: 'TV and stage work present different challenges, both of which I enjoy.'

Trivia: Despite playing her grandmother on Emmerdale, Dexter is only 28 years older than actress Charley Webb.

Greg Brenman (Executive producer)

Avril MacRory (Executive producer)

Michael Foster (Executive producer)

Chrissy Skinns (Producer)

Yann Demange (Director)

Lucy Prebble (Writer)

9:30 pm - 10:00 pm, Friday, September 4 on Together TV (83)

About this Broadcast

Season 1, Episode 4

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