Isy Suttie's Love Letters

Stand-up, actor, writer, composer and musician Isy Suttie has already won a Sony Radio Academy award, but while I have been familiar with her work in the theatre and on television (particularly Channel 4's Peep Show), the return of her series Isy Suttie's Love Letters is the first opportunity I have had to hear her in action.

Suttie's intention is to use dialogue and song to recall love stories affecting people she has known throughout her life, while also throwing in a few anecdotes about her own experiences on the relationship rollercoaster.

In the first of four programmes, the performer returned to her hometown of Matlock in Derbyshire. With work a little sparse following a brief stint playing a "rat, frog, duck and crack addict" in a children's show, Suttie spent a few days working as a teaching assistant at a local primary school.

It was here that she sensed a budding romance between dinner lady Eleanor and teacher Mr Woodfield as they discussed their enthusiasm for poetry in the playground (it turned out that the former had far more knowledge about the subject).

Carried away by their feelings, and encouraged by Suttie, Eleanor and Mr Woodfield - both of whom were unhappily married - planned a trip to Paris, although the transport arrangements didn't quite go to plan.

This really was a perfect piece of radio - subtle and simple, witty and funny, bittersweet and touching. Yes, there were a few easy laughs to be had when Suttie was first testing out the voices for her characters, but there was no evidence of showboating. Instead, her humour was gentle, quirky and beautifully observed.

Radio Times review

Isy Suttie made her mark as devoted girlfriend Dobby in Peep Show on Channel 4. Now radio is helping to establish her as the latest in a long line of female monologuists stretching back to Ruth Draper and Joyce Grenfell.

Her good-natured observational comedy dissects romantic relationships - her own and other people's - and in the first episode of her new series she recalls her time as a classroom assistant, when a dinner lady and a teacher, both married to other people, were drawn to each other.

It comes as no surprise to read that Suttie is an admirer of Victoria Wood. Now that Wood's comic performances are rare, Suttie, like her idol a comedian and a singer/songwriter, could fill the gap.

Isy Suttie: 'anger can make for better writing'

An interview with the new queen of feel-good comedy, Isy Suttie, ahead of her appearance at benefit Stand Up For Free Speech.

Isy Suttie interview

The standup, who plays Peep Show's Dobby, on her two new shows examining affairs of the heart.