DANCING QUEEN
Billie Piper is back, chasing public redemption and private peace.
Lucy Prebble is busy writing the fourth series of Succession and exec producer Julie Gardner is throwing herself into David Tennant’s return in Doctor Who. High-profile affairs both, yet I Hate Suzie Too, in which we return to the crumbling world and besieged psyche of Billie Piper’s child-star-turnedactor Suzie Pickles, clearly holds a special place for them both.
“Suzie’s not likeable,” concedes Gardner. “She’s not easy. You certainly don’t agree with all of her behaviour. She’s very flawed, but you rarely see women be this damaged or chaotic or unformed or fantastic.”
Having professionally separated from best friend and former agent Naomi (Leila Farzad) and now locked in a brutal custody battle with ex-husband Cob (Daniel Ings) over their son Frank (Matthew Jordan-Caws), Suzie has entered Dance Crazee, a prime-time televised dance competition, in an attempt to rebuild her finances, career, public profile and emotional state.
“It’s a big conceptual idea, separated across three nights [and three episodes] at Christmas, like a BBC period adaptation might be!” laughs Prebble. “Christmas is a fascinating time, filled with as much pain and mayhem as joy. This series is about extremes and opposites: the onstage glitter vs the backstage tat. I think it will feel quite cathartic for everyone who feels they have to keep up a certain face at the most wonderful time of the year.”
With the addition of Blake Harrison, Douglas Hodge, Anastasia Hille and Omari Douglas, an already formidable ensemble has yet more depth, while director Dawn Shadforth brings her background in music videos (Kylie Minogue, Tinie Tempah, Björk) to the mesmerising dance sequences. However beautifully conceived Dance Crazee may be, however, Prebble rules out a career swerve into reality telly: “I think I’m better off manipulating the lives of fictional people rather than real ones.” “The performances are really well judged,” adds Gardner. “Quite grounded but occasionally heightened because they have incredibly fast, witty dialogue, often on the run and in walk-talks, which are technically hard. Those actors ground the emotion but also hit the comedy. I’m in awe of them.” Certainly, anyone expecting a traditional Christmas special when they tune in will be disappointed. I Hate Suzie Too is unflinchingly funny, unapologetically angry television, with a denouement that is both distressing and absolutely consistent with the story we’ve followed so far.
“The last couple of years have offered shocking and unacceptable realities concerning women,” says Prebble. “I don’t think we wanted to end the show on anything except an honest expression of that. I’m tired of my tragedies about women being valued less than my tragedies about men. I’m tired of them being called messy when what I write is apoplectic. I don’t have any more smiles to hand out.”
‘Christmas is filled with as much pain and mayhem as joy.’ LUCY PREBBLE
I HATE SUZIE TOO IS ON SKY ATLANTIC THIS CHRISTMAS.