Piper also returns for three episodes of Doctor Who this year

The station, also home to controversial shows such as lesbian drama The L Word and Dexter, plans to start running the first series in the Spring.

Rival channel HBO, home of The Sopranos, had also expressed an interest in the securing the show.

In the UK, the second series of the drama is due to start shooting within the next few months.

Upmarket prostitute

The show, based on an online diary written under the pseudonym Belle de Jour, attracted almost two million viewers on its debut last September.

Belle, who wrote about her life as an upmarket prostitute, has remained anonymous since first publishing her diaries in 2003.

Her blog has also led to a column in the Daily Telegraph and two books.

Piper, who is to reprise her Doctor Who role as Rose for three episodes later this year, married her fiance Laurence Fox at a church ceremony near their home in Midhurst, West Sussex on New Year's Eve.