It was the smart, hilarious and cringeworthy TV show that captured our hearts last summer. Sky Atlantic’s I Hate Suzie explored the bad decisions we make in our 30s, in unflinching – and addictively moreish – detail.

And now the series, co-created by Billie Piper and Lucy Prebble, may be set for a comeback.

In an exclusive report, The Radio Times says that Piper and Prebble are working on ideas for a new season of I Hate Suzie – though Sky Atlantic has yet to confirm a second series of the show. 

“Since the pair are already workshopping storylines for a second series, it’s safe to assume the broadcaster is at the very least considering a second run,” the publication reports. 

The show follows the story of Suzie (played by Billie Piper), a rising star actor in her 30s who finds her life unravelling amid an excruciating nude photo leak. 

The story was created by Piper’s friend and “boss writer” Prebbles, who previously collaborated with the actor on ITV’s Secret Diary of a Call Girl. 

Both women felt strongly about their portrayal of a 30-something meltdown captured by the series.

Part of the delight (and horror) of the show is seeing its wayward protagonist, Suzie, constantly being caught up in a cycle of bad decisions that are all too familiar to anyone who’s been trapped in a similar crisis. 

“One of the things we talked a lot about when creating this was the anxiety over the ways our lives can collapse around us in our 30s,” Prebble, who is also part of the writing team behind hit series Succession, told Stylist last year. “It’s a crazy time for a woman, I think. You’re either saying, ‘Oh god I made the wrong decisions in my 20s’ or, ‘Oh god I didn’t make any decisions in my 20s and I should have done.’”

“It’s something we feel is very strongly rooted in every moment of the show,” Piper added. “That feeling of, ‘Oh don’t do that, don’t do that, don’t do that…’ But it’s exactly what you would probably do.”

The first season of I Hate Suzie aired in August 2020 to rave reviews and a trending hashtag on Twitter. 

The title of each episode in the series is named after a process in the grief cycle: shock, denial, fear, shame, bargaining, guilt, anger and acceptance.

It’s this honesty, coupled with a bawdy sense of chaos and mischief, that is a giveaway to the fact that two close friends are behind the storyline. 

As the dark comic-drama aired on our screens last year, Piper paid tribute to her “lady love” and “boss writer” Prebble in a heartfelt post on Instagram, saying: “Your pen is the strongest.”

The chemistry that Piper and Prebble, as female TV talent, share is vital to creating the kind of shows that women truly want to watch.

From Sharon Horgan’s Catastrophe to Fleabag by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, a new generation of female-led TV series are showing women as we see ourselves: as sexual, complex, funny and deeply flawed beings. In other words, characters we can all relate to. 

I Hate Suzie continues this tradition with aplomb – here’s hoping the rumours of season two come true.

Images: Getty, Sky Atlantic