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.

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?

Iddo Goldberg (Actor) .. Ben

Beth Cordingly (Actor) .. Naomi

Ace Bhatti (Actor) .. Ashok

Best Known For: Playing Yusef Khan in EastEnders.

Early-life: Ahsen Rafiq Bhatti was born on September 13, 1969 in Nottingham. He started his acting career at age 14, appearing in the children's series Dramarama. Ace trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Career: In the 1990s, Bhatti's career started to take off. He got roles in such TV series as Family Pride, Band of Gold, Cardiac Arrest and Holding On. In 2002, he made an appearance in the film Bend It Like Beckham. The next year, he had the lead part in the TV dark comedy Grease Monkeys. He went on to appear in New Street Law, Secret Diary of a Call Girl and The Sarah Jane Adventures before landing the role of Yusef Khan in EastEnders in 2010. Bhatti departed from the soap opera in 2011 and, since then, he has made appearances in a number of TV series, including Black Work, Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands, DCI Banks and Three Girls.

Quote: 'In my career, I've played quite a few dysfunctional people! But what I've learned is that you also have to find empathy in any character and there's reasons why people are a certain way.'

Trivia: He used to be part of a lifeboat crew.

Connie Walker (Actor) .. Shop assistant

Greg Brenman (Executive producer)

Avril MacRory (Executive producer)

Michael Foster (Executive producer)

Chrissy Skinns (Producer)

Sue Tully (Director)

Nicole Taylor (Writer)

9:30 pm - 10:00 pm, Saturday, September 5 on Together TV (83)

About this Broadcast

Season 1, Episode 5

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