A Man. And His Blog.

Danny Reed (Martin Freeman), a lonely DIY store employee obsessed with conspiracy theories, finds himself trapped inside the body of Veronica Burton (Rachael Stirling), an affluent female fashion journalist, and experiences a major identity crisis.
His close friends Pete (Marshall Lancaster) and Fiona (Angela Griffin) first don’t know what to do about the sudden disappearing of Danny, while he tries to solve the mystery about the body switch. While Veronica doesn’t know what happened and lives on the streets, Danny lives the life of the woman he is now, even when it means: living the life with a boyfriend named Jay (Patterson Joseph), a whole different family and an unwanted job.

Episode 1
Well well, the very old body switch story as a main plot in a TV show. Good idea. But in a British TV show? This can be utter crap, when the authors are… utter crap. After seeing the first episode I must say it was a solid work. A few boring moments, a few good moments and the unanswered question, if this is more of a comedy series or real drama – because it is somehow both.
The fact that the story takes the drama part (too) makes it interesting, the fact that the funny party are totally not funny is a bit weird, but one or two moments to smile were there. The fact, that the female part was the main part of the episode, was a bit lame. I wished to see more about Veronica trying to find out, being in a man’s body and learning to live with it. Danny in Veronica’s body all the episode got a bit boring in the end and could be boring in the rest of the season, because we already saw a lot about Veronica’s life and Danny trying to live with it. Hopefully we see Veronica in Danny’s body in the next episode. And just ignore the mystery part of the show. Because the side plot with Danny’s friends and the setup of the body switch was typical British: crap.
All in all it was a good start, I was pleasantly surprised and keep on watching. Not every British show is worth watching… 7,5/10

Episode 2
A good episode, just with too much Daniel trying to be Veronica, instead showing us more Veronica trying to be Daniel. But at least we saw more about her being him; the scene in where she tries to explain it to Jay. I have just one question: Why are both always saying “It’s me.”? Why don’t they ever tell their names, why just “me” – maybe somebody would have believed that story by now and they can figure out, how to get back to their real bodies. And the other question is: Why is Veronica in Daniel’s body so awkward? She never stays in one place, she never tries to find Daniel, she never does anything to solve the mystery.
The end was a bit confusing. After two episodes Daniel really gets in bed with Jay? This is a bit unbelievable, but what the hell… The B storyline with Pete and Fiona trying to find Daniel and getting somehow involved in other stuff is boring though and could be cut from the series. I don’t think it is necessary for the series. But who knows, maybe it is necessary for the mystery part. Why would they keep the articles about the storm on the wall? 7/10

Episode 3
A good episode, a bit better than the last one. I lov how the story evolves in this one, Danny finally having his breakdown (it took him long enough) and telling everybody that he is not Veronica. I just don’t understand the other side of the story. First: Did I miss it or why was Veronica in the mental institution after all? Second: Why is she running away, though she is on the look for Danny? She knows that he was once in the institution, she could have stayed and find out about him. Her escaping from the institution was a simple plot device to get Danny and Veronica back at a later time, just not now.
So, Danny and Fiona. First: I didn’t know that Fiona was a lesbian, I always thought she had some feelings for him. Second: I like Fiona’s character now. She is way more better than the other “friend” Paul, who just gets on my nerves. Like Veronica’s friends and family, their characters aren’t really believable, especially Jay, who should have seen by now that something isn’t right with his girl. 7,5/10

Episode 4
Oh, already the season finale. And after ITV canned Primeval, and after the last scene, it looks like the series finale. A very short series; kind of a bummer, because I started to like the show in the last two episodes. Finally Danny and Veronica meet each other again and very fast Veronica wants to swap again, without Danny’s approval, who is starting to like the life in Veronica’s body. His words about her life and the lies she was living before were great and it would be a good story for an eventually second season (I don’t think it will come, ITV is kind of broke). And his relationship with Fiona is wonderful written, it had some emotional moments. Bummer, the love was ended in this episode.
The ending is kind of open: Did they swap again? Veronica isn’t returning the kiss and breaks up with Jay, Danny answers with “Not the one you knew” to Paul’s question if he is back. Probably they still are in each other’s bodies and accepting the fact now or they really changed. But after Veronica trying desperately to get back to her normal life, I don’t think the changing happened. I rather think they didn’t swap the bodies. This would be an open end for an eventual second season, but it is kind of the right end for the series. I liked it after all. And it was a really good episode. 8/10

The season average is 7,5. Okay, it is a short season, so the figure may be a bit worthless. I really liked the two last episodes, but I don’t think there will be a second season. First the ratings were not that good and second ITV is broke and economizing everywhere. I just hope the next two seasons of Secret Diary of a Call Girl will have their eight episodes.