Isobel Jane Suttie (; born 11 August 1978) is a British musical comedian, actress and writer. She played Dobby in the Channel 4 sitcom Peep Show, and in 2013 won the gold Radio Academy Award for her radio show Pearl and Dave.
Early life Suttie was born in Hull to a Scottish father and English mother and brought up in Matlock, Derbyshire. Her mother is of Jewish heritage.
From an early age, she expressed a desire to act and write. She began playing the guitar and writing songs at the age of twelve after she was refused saxophone lessons. As a teenager she was a member of a progressive rock band called Infinite Drift. She attended Highfields School in Matlock.How Isy made her mark in the tough world of comedy . This Is Derbyshire. 1 June 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
Career Theatre, comedy and music Suttie trained as an actress at the Guildford School of Acting, graduating in 2000. In 2001 she composed and directed a score for Peter Weiss' play Marat/Sade at the Arcola Theatre in London.Comedy Central: Isy Suttie . Comedycentral.co.uk. Retrieved on 7 April 2013 Suttie began performing stand-up comedy in 2003. Her act normally consists of music, stand-up and stories, either as herself or under the guise of a character.
At the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe, Suttie was one of the acts in stand-up showcase The Comedy Zone. In 2006, she acted in Danielle Ward's Take-a-Break Tales at The Pleasance with Neil Edmond and Emma Fryer. In 2007, she performed her debut solo stand-up show, Love Lost in the British Retail Industry, which she took to Sydney Arts Festival and on a UK tour in 2010–11, and in 2008 her second solo Edinburgh show The Suttie Show. She played psycho killer Sorrow in the revival of Danielle Ward and Martin White's cult musical Gutted at the Leicester Square Theatre for two performances in February and March 2011. She took her third solo stand-up show, Pearl and Dave, to Edinburgh in August 2011. She appeared at the Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal in July 2012.
Suttie occasionally duets with folk musician Gavin Osborn and supported musician Jim Bob on tour in 2010. She also appeared with Jim Bob for the fourth year of the Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People event at the Bloomsbury Theatre in December 2011.
Suttie was nominated for Best Female Newcomer at the 2008 British Comedy Awards, then Female Breakthrough Artist in 2011 and Best Female TV Comic in 2014. She was regional winner of The Daily Telegraph Young Jazz Competition (1995) for composition, winner of the Julian Slade Songwriting Competition (1998) and Chortle Awards best newcomer nominee (2005). In 2013, the BBC Radio 4 version of Pearl and Dave won a Gold Sony Radio Academy Award.
In February and March 2014, she starred as Phyllis Pearsall, the creator of the A–Z Street Atlas, in the musical The A–Z of Mrs P, which ran at Southwark Playhouse.
Television, radio, film and podcasts Suttie's first television writing was for two series of the popular teenage drama Skins, under the guise of "comedy consultant".
Suttie appeared in the short film that accompanied the song "God of Loneliness" by Emmy The Great, alongside Shazad Latif, directed by Chris Boyle.
She provides the voices for BBC One's Walk on the Wild Side, in addition to voicing the character of Josie the Dog in Kristen Schaal and Kurt Braunohler's Penelope Princess of Pets (Channel 4 Comedy Lab). She provides voices for children's series The Revolting World of Stanley Brown. Suttie has also provided the voiceover for several TV commercials.
Suttie has previously appeared as a special guest on the popular podcast, Answer Me This!, in April 2013 alongside hosts Helen Zaltzman and Olly Mann.
Suttie played a waitress called Kiki alongside Alan Davies in BBC Two's Whites, which aired in autumn 2010. She has also made TV appearances in Holby City, as Mary Shelley in The Trouble With Love (BBC Two), as various characters in The Incredible Will and Greg (Channel 4), as Lianne in Rab C. Nesbitt (BBC), as a judge in Genie in the House and as a nurse in two episodes of Skins (Channel 4).
She played the regular character Esther Blanco in the last series of Shameless, broadcast in 2013. In January 2013, she appeared in the ITV comedy drama series Great Night Out as Bev.
She was cast as Dobby, IT geek and love interest of David Mitchell's character Mark Corrigan in Peep Show in 2008, a role that she continued to play for the remainder of the show's run until 2015.
Suttie has written and appeared in many shows on BBC radio, including her own BBC Radio 4 series, Isy Suttie's Love Letters, which began in 2013. She is also a regular presenter of The Comedy Club on BBC Radio 4 Extra and has acted in two of Tim Key's radio shows.
She has been on the UK team for the monthly podcast "International Waters", hosted by Jesse Thorn of maximumfun.org. She appeared on episode 2 at the end of March 2012, alongside Dan Antopolski.
In 2012, Suttie voice-acted in the CBeebies show The Cow that Almost Missed Christmas alongside Johnny Vegas. The show was a one-off animation which gave a unique interpretation of the Christmas Nativity seen through the eyes of a cow called Marjorie, whom Suttie voiced.
In August 2013, Suttie appeared in the one-off revival episode of the television series Knightmare as Treguard's assistant Veruca/Daisy. The 26-minute episode was aired as part of YouTube's "Geek Week" celebrations.
In March 2014 Suttie appeared in the S4C Welsh learners programme Hwb as a Welsh learner (which she is in real life) in a regular sketch called "Y Wers Gymraeg" ("The Welsh Lesson"), starring her partner Elis James.
In 2014, she wrote and starred in a short film, The Best Night of Roxy's Life, alongside Philip Jackson and JJ Burnel of The Stranglers. The film tells the story of Roxy, a Stranglers superfan who meets JJ, her hero.
In September 2016, she began a six-episode run on the Channel 4 TV show Damned as Natalie, a temporary receptionist. She returned for the second series in 2018. She also appeared in the sitcom Man Down as Miss Clarke and has provided narration on the show Posh Pawn.
In November 2025, it was announced that Suttie would feature as a guest star, alongside four other members of the Peep Show cast, on Channel 4's The Great British Bake Off Christmas edition. The following year she was announced as a contestant on the 22nd series of Taskmaster.
Author In January 2016, her first book, The Actual One, was published by Orion. In July 2021, her first novel, Jane is Trying, was also published by Orion.
Personal life Suttie married her longtime partner, comedian Elis James, in August 2024. The couple have two children. After the birth of her daughter, she developed migraine-associated vertigo.
Filmography Film Year Film Role Notes 2017 Pin Cushion Anne 2021 Invisible Manners Voice role 2023 Cottontail Olivia - Hen Party Wonka Fruit & Veg Vendor
Television Year Title Character Production Notes2008 Love Soup Researcher BBC One Episode: "Green Widow" The Incredible Will and Greg Various sketches Channel 4 TV film Genie in the House Audition Judge Nickelodeon Episode: "Look to the Future" 2008–2015 Peep Show Dobby Channel 4 Series 5–9 2009 Holby City Nancy Colcano BBC One Episode: "The Honeymoon's Over" 2009–2013 Walk on the Wild Side Various Voice Overs BBC One (Series 1, 2), CBBC (Series 3) Series 1, 2, and 32010 Whites Kiki BBC Two 6 episodes Penelope Princess of Pets Josie the Dog Channel 4 TV film 2011 Rab C. Nesbitt Leanne Curruth BBC Two Episode: "Role"2012 Skins Nurse Pauline Channel 4 2 episodes White Van Man Tash BBC Three Episode: "They Think It's All Over" The Cow That Almost Missed Christmas Marjorie (voice) BBC Two TV film The Revolting World of Stanley Brown Animation Voice (voice) CBBC 12 episodes2013 Great Night Out Bev ITV 4 episodes Shameless Esther Blanco Channel 4 10 episodes Love Matters Bella Wright Sky Living Episode: "Miss Wright" Would I Lie To You? Herself BBC One Series 7, episode 2 Never Mind the Buzzcocks Herself BBC Two Series 27, episode 2 QI Herself BBC Two Series K, episode 8 Father Figure BBC One Episode: "Mother Figure" Comedy Blaps ACMS Presents A Board Meeting Isy, Vicky Channel 4 Episodes 1–3 2014 Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled Herself Dave Series 1, episode 4 2015–present 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Herself Channel 4 4 episodes2016 Drunk History (British TV series) Herself Comedy Central Season 2, episode 3 Boomers Suze BBC One Episode: "Naming Ceremony" 2016–2017 Man Down Ally Channel 4 10 episodes 2016–2018 Damned Nat Channel 4 12 episodes 2018 Zapped Esme Dave Episode: "Amulet" 2021 Question Team Herself (Guest Question Setter) Dave 1 episode2022 The Baby Rita HBO 3 episodes Murder, They Hope Beatrice U&Gold 1 episode 2023 Dreaming Whilst Black Helen BBC Three 3 episodes2025The Great Christmas Bake OffHerselfChannel 4Christmas special2026TaskmasterHerselfChannel 4Series 22
Discography The A–Z of Mrs P Original London Cast Album Release date Label Notes The A–Z of Mrs P 24 March 2014 SimG Productions Suttie sings in the role of Phyllis Pearsall
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