Profile: Sue Perkins
Biography
Sue began her career as half of double-act Mel and Sue on Channel Four’s daytime show, Light Lunch, which ran for five series before transferring to an evening slot, Late Lunch, marking the start of an act that has lasted for seventeen years. Mel and Sue have appeared in five national tours, six Edinburgh festivals, and played netball on Room 101.
Sue has written for French and Saunders and Ab Fab, as well as countless radio series. As a solo performer, she presented three series of the Sky film show, Movie Babylon, and two series of Good Evening Rockall for BBC3. Sue is a regular contributor to Have I Got News For You (BBC1) Newsnight Review (BBC2), Never Mind the Full Stops (BBC4), Clive Anderson’s Chat Room, It’s Been A Bad Week (Radio 2) Just a Minute, The News Quiz, Heresy, The Personality Test (Radio 4).
Over the last two years, Sue has written two full-length stand-up shows, Spectacle Wearer of the Year and The Disappointing Second Show, which have toured extensively to sellout crowds.
Sue dressed up in whalebone corsetry for the BBC4 documentary, Edwardian Supersize Me, where she ate thirty courses a day, and she has recently appeared with Giles Coren in The Supersizers Go on BBC2.
Related Videos
- Sue's 'Impossible Dream'
Sue achieves her Impossible Dream
- Sue conducts Verdi
Sue conducts Verdi at Proms in the Park
- Sue conducts Elgar
Sue conducts Elgar at Proms in the Park
- Sue has a busy week
Sue prepares for her prize performance
- The Final - Journey's end for Goldie and Sue
Goldie and Sue look back – and face the public vote
- The Final - Sue's Beethoven challenge
All to play for – Beethoven’s 5th
- The Final - Sue's Stravinsky
Sue conducts Stravinsky’s The Firebird
- The Final - Sue's concerto performance
Sue’s Bruch violin concerto with Tasmin Little
- Behind the scenes: Face the music
Jason helps Sue find new expressions
- Behind the scenes: Sue on her Prince Igor
Sex and violence in the steppes …
- Sue and Rebecca perform O mio babbino caro
Channelling Puccini the Romantic…
- Sue's Episode 4 diary
Putting across lovestruck madness…
- Behind the scenes: After the Simpsons
Sue and Jason are on a high…
- Sue's Episode 3 diary
Mentor Jason says cut the comedy and get serious…
- Sue conducts Borodin's Polovtsian Dances
Sue gets inspiration from her Latvian grandmother
- Sue's second attempt at conducting
Sue conducts The Simpsons theme tune
- Sue's Episode 2 diary
Sue learns how to stay in control amid cartoon chaos
- Sue in concert
Sue Perkins performs in the final concert at Baton Camp
- Sue Perkins with her mentor
Sue Perkins with her mentor, Jason Lai
- Sue Perkins' first attempt
Sue Perkins conducts the BBC Concert Orchestra for the first time.
Memorable Quotes
You are cocooned in this wall of brilliance and suddenly you can hear the resin sparking off the bow as the strings are playing – it’s sensory overload!
It’s getting out there, it’s handling the volume of people, the nerves, the cameras the audience behind you which I’m going to find very, very strange; to get a measure of control and potency in that first wordless second before you just slam down the hand.
If I look a buffoon while I’m transported by a piece of music then so be it, I don’t care.
It would be nice to move beyond ‘this is how to beat time’ to getting that bloke over there and that woman over there to use their knowledge to create something mercurial and brilliant - that would be very exciting.
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