MovieChat Forums > Peep Show (2004) Discussion > Why is Big Suze called Big Suze?

Why is Big Suze called Big Suze?


...When she isn't that big??! I mean, I know she's quite tall, but when they're talking about her before she actually comes into it, you're expecting someone huge with massive breasts or something!

Anyone know, or is this maybe just an in joke?

File under - pointless niggle of the day

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Mostly because she is tall. The actress (Sophie Winkleman) who plays Suze is 5'10." Actor Robert Webb who plays her former boyfriend (Jez) is 5'7". Imagine Jez picking up Suze for a date and she's wearing 2" heals. She's gotta look "big" to him. Also though she is not obese by any means, her frame appears large. In fact in one episode (Sisterning) Mark (in voice over) made the comment while hugging Suze, "my God, I'm going to have to learn how to ride a horse."

He killed sixteen Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator.

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Thanks. That's a really good explanation :-)

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Are you sure Webb is 5'7"? I've seen quite a decent amount of his works and he appears a lot taller than that.

On his bio here on ImdB he is reported as 5' 10".


Also I was under the impression Mark came up with the nickname (and in that case your comment would fit), not Jeremy.

So did you mean Mitchell and Mark respectively?

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Now that you bring it up, I'm not sure about his height. I initially did a Google search on Robert Webb and this was the first page http://imgur.com/5qJuIUZ. I now see the 5'10" reference on IMBD. Agree he appears taller though always thought Tom Cruise appeared taller than his actual height.

As far as the nickname (Big Suze), I have no idea which character coined it though if had to guess, I would guess Jez. I don't recall it ever explained.

So did you mean Mitchell and Mark respectively?


Sorry, not sure what you mean.


He killed sixteen Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator.

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Sorry, not sure what you mean.


Well, simply, I thought if you substitute "Webb" with Mitchell and Jez with Mark, in your original post, it'd made a lot more sense, hence maybe you might have simply mistyped the two.

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[deleted]

When Mark says: "I'm going to have to learn to ride a horse," he isn't suggesting that Big Suze is the horse. He simply means that if he goes out with her, he'll have to learn to ride because she is the posh, horsey type and horse riding is the sort of thing he'd be doing with her.

I also agree that Robert Webb looks considerably taller than 5'7".




When life gives you lemons, shut up and eat the damn lemons.

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Thank you from the States. Finally, it makes sense. Posh, of course. My mind was totally in the gutter: hot dog down a hallway. This is one of the best shows ever. I'm a pretty big Seinfeld fan, yeah, I know, but this show might be better; it's very hard to choose. "American Dad" might be as funny. *beep* Bush. I loved "Coupling", but being here I don't get much info on the UK, unless it's about royalty or the flavor of the month. The U.S. Is too censored on TV. Too bad.

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My mind was totally in the gutter: hot dog down a hallway
Well, ... 

Oh dear, I learned a new phrase today. The American idiom is rather jolly, isn't it?


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I'm pretty sure the horse comment was because she's posh. Not for the other reason!

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You could be right but Mark follows up in the next scene (where he insults Big Suze), "I mean, you're very, you know....horsey. You're the horsey type." To me it's pretty clear that when Mark was hugging Suze on his bed (with an erection), "ride a horse" was a euphemism for what Mark expected (or wanted) next, having sex with Big Suze. Thanks (or no thanks) to Jez, nothing happened.

He killed sixteen Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator.

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I think it's implied pre the events of the show she was Jez's "big" love interest - "the one".

The horse thing was Mark projecting way into the future and imagining a relationship with someone as posh as her involving horse riding.

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Apologies but I sincerely believe you are dead wrong. Early in that episode Mark's ultimate desire (implied to the audience) was to consummate his relationship with Big Suze. In the bed hugging scene Mark realizes how big Suze is and then his voice over learn to ride a horse comes into play. After the scene is interrupted by Jez, Mark insults Suze basically saying she looks like a horse.

The horse thing was Mark projecting way into the future and imagining a relationship with someone as posh as her involving horse riding.


I mean seriously. If you tell a big woman she looks like a horse, how in the world do you translate that into posh horse riding? Especially in a series with no horse riding.

He killed sixteen Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator.

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Ludicrous. If you understood the cultural context of Britain, you would understand that this joke relates to class (not some nonsensical joke about Big Suze being a horse Mark will have to learn to 'ride'). It's about poshness and its connotations (BS is mega posh and horseback riding could generally be considered a 'posh people thing') and the activities Mark believes he will have to partake in if he does become a part of BS's world.

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This is 100% correct.

The previous guy was way off. Quite the imagination though

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This is also what I thought of when Mark says she's the horsey type. Big stupid posh Suze.

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The horse/horsey references are entirely to do with the British class system - nothing to do with size. It's a shorthand in the UK that if someone is 'horsey' then they are from a particular part of the upper class (which Big Suze is supposed to be from in the series - and which the actress is actually from).

"Someone has been tampering with Hank's memories."

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Someone once told me that you can tell a posh bird because they have fat arses from riding horses....;O)

Marlon, Claudia and Dimby the cats 1989-2005, 2007 and 2010.

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The women I've known who rode horses had gorgeous figures, due to youth partly, but also to the fitness required to ride a horse. It's exercise, calls for finesse, and keeps one trim. So 'fat arse' comment very dubious.

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Thanks. If so, I admit being wrong in my interpretation of the scene. In the states it's not uncommon to refer to large women as horses. Every day is a school day.


He killed sixteen Czechoslovakians. Guy was an interior decorator.

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No problem chum, it's a very Brit specific reference in the show.

"Someone has been tampering with Hank's memories."

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Also, 'horsey' is often used to describe someone posh. None of the horse stuff had anything to do with her size and everything to do with her poshness. Besides, she is nowhere near big enough for a joke linking her size to a horse to make any sense.

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It could also be an in-joke. The actress was in The Chronicles of Narnia, where she played the adult version of Susan, i.e: "Big Suze"

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This is what I had always assumed.

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In one of the episodes, I cannot recall which, Jez mentioned that Suze has an enormous clitoris.

He did not confirm that this was the reason behind her name but it could be it.





"Nobody wants to admit they ate nine cans of ravioli."

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I've always thought that, whether it was just Jez or both Jez and Mark who knew her before she came into the show, she was called that because the social circle that they were in included two women called Susan (or variation of). As she was the tallest of the two, they called her 'Big Suze'.

I also reckon that when they cast the role, because her name was mentioned in the first series before she finally appeared in the first episode of the third series, they opted for someone who was on the tall side, possibly indicating as to why she got her nickname.

Big Suze is lovely and gorgeous... I can see why Jez (and Mark in 'Sistering') fancies her!

Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way

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In my experience (ha), the "big" or "little" is to differentiate from two people with the same name. I kinda figured that there must be a "little Suze" somewhere. You know, like:

"Tom was just here, looking for you."
"Which Tom? Little Tom or Big Tom?"
"The big one."

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[deleted]

The actress who portrayed Big Suze (Sophie Winkleman)was on one of the best UK sitcoms in the past fifteen years. She also portrayed a character on one of the most overrated US prime time sitcoms ever. Here's a hint, it involves two men.

However, I'd like to see her back on Peep Show for any of the last three episodes. She's a great actress.

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