Writers’ strike could give Billie her big break

The continuing Hollywood writers' strike looks like giving the young British actress Billie Piper an unexpected career break in the US. Executives at the cable channel Showtime had been planning to adapt Piper's provocative ITV2 series Secret Diary of a Call Girl for the States, just as shows like The Office have been re-cast and 'translated' in recent years. But with the strike still not settled, Showtime is taking the plunge and buying the series itself.

Showtime president Robert Greenblatt said he was "captivated" by Piper's performance. Will American audiences be equally captivated by Piper's portrayal of Hannah, the legal secretary who moonlights as high-class prostitute Belle? With the former Doctor Who actress seen in several semi-nude scenes and lesbian romps, the answer is probably yes - as long as they can understand Secret Diary of a Call Girl's distinctly British accent.
 
Meanwhile, Showtime rival HBO has its own prostitution project in the pipeline, from Darren Star, the creator of Beverly Hills 90210 and Sex and the City. It is currently dubbed Diary of a Manhattan Call Girl.
 
Piper is busy attending to her New Year's Eve wedding to fellow actor Laurence Fox. Although the couple say they want it to be an intimate affair, and have turned down lucrative offers from celebrity magazines to cover their big day, they are reported to have caused some tension in the Sussex town of Midhurst by requesting that local police provide security – on what is one of the police force's busiest days of the year. ·