In 2020, amid a worldwide pandemic and tough restrictions on the way we lived and worked, the TV world brought us one undeniable bright spot: I Hate Suzie. Starring and co-created by Billie Piper (alongside Secret Diary Of A Call Girl’s Lucy Prebble), the eight-part Sky Atlantic series was an unflinching examination of the “mistakes” women in their 30s can make in decisions about their relationships, careers and lifestyles. It was also very darkly funny. 

So fans who were left wanting more of Suzie’s antics will be delighted to hear that the upcoming second instalment of the modern antiheroine’s misadventures will be titled I Hate Suzie Too. And if the brand-new trailer is anything to go by,  it’s sure to be the ultimate “anti-Christmas Christmas special”.

Take a look below:

The child star turned actor, we learn, now has a new agent, new PR and a new job – dancing for likes on Dance Crazee, a reality TV competition that has the Saturday night audience hooked. After she seemed to lose everyone that mattered to her over the course of the turbulent first season, this time Suzie is returning to her first love – the public.

The 40-second clip teases all the flair and drama we’ve come to expect from the funniest, darkest show about show business, as we see Suzie fight to navigate her new life and restore her reputation. But at what cost?

Battling ex-husband Cob (Daniel Ings) with the help of estranged best friend Naomi (Leila Farzad), Suzie must try to keep life as stable as possible for her young son, Frank (Matthew Jordan-Caws), all while staying on Dance Crazee long enough to finance her new role as single mum and ex-wife.

Sharing the photo on Instagram, Piper promised that I Hate Suzie Too would be “a Christmas special like never before”. 

“Can you really dance all your troubles away?” she wrote. “Asking for a mate.”

In a previous first-look image, which you can see below, our protagonist stares intently at her reflection in the mirror of what appears to be a rehearsal room. 

Alongside Farzad (Avenue 5) and Ings (Sex Education), Phil Daniels (Eastenders), Lorraine Ashbourne (Bridgerton) and Elle Piper all reprise their roles, and a suitably starry additional cast has been assembled for the second season.

The new series includes Douglas Hodge (Joker), Blake Harrison (The Inbetweeners), Layton Williams (Everybody’s Talking About Jamie), Omari Douglas (It’s A Sin), Anastasia Hille (Snow White And The Huntsman), Angela Sant’Albano (The Nevers), Reza Diako (Tehran) and Yaz Zadeh (I May Destroy You).

Pretty good, right?

“We are thrilled to be back working together on this horrifying fever dream we share – I Hate Suzie Too (this time there’s sequins),” commented Prebble and Piper in a statement.

The series is set to air on Sky Atlantic and streaming platform NOW in December, but in the meantime, we thought we’d refresh your memory with everything that went down in the first season.

What happened in I Hate Suzie season 1?

Piper played Suzie, a thirty-something actor who lived in a big country house with her husband and son and was about to sign a deal with Disney. This all changed when photos of her having sex with a former lover were leaked. Her world came crashing down around her and, even with the help of her best friend and manager, Naomi, she just kept making things worse and worse for herself (drug binges, bad publicity appearances, affairs). 

How did the first season of I Hate Suzie end?

In the last episode, we saw Suzie finally face everything that had happened. She looked back at how her childhood affected her and we heard her internal monologues about what it means to be a “good” person. She finally made the decision to leave her husband, Cob, before finding out that she was pregnant. And she said goodbye to Naomi, who decided she no longer wanted to be an agent.

When will the second season of I Hate Suzie be out?

I Hate Suzie Too will air in December on Sky and Now in the UK and Ireland.

Images: Sky Atlantic