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Alumnae weekend video: Catch up with Sue Perkins and friends

Bake Off presenter joins fellow star alumnae actress Nicola Walker and scriptwriter Sarah Phelps to share laughter, wise words and memories of New Hall

Three women seated on stage laughing

This year's Cambridge Alumni Weekend was extra special at Murray Edwards as we celebrate our 70th anniversary year - so we made sure our alumnae event was spectacular! 

Tickets sold out within hours for a panel discussion between TV presenter Sue Perkins, actress Nicola Walker and screenwriter Sarah Phelps - a truly brilliant trio who all met as undergraduates here at the College, then New Hall. 

Hosted by College President Dorothy Byrne, our speakers shared hilarious anecdotes from their time at Cambridge - often returning to a particularly memorable production of 'Jocasta: Baby Killer' that Sarah Phelps, now an acclaimed BAFTA-winning writer, may want forgotten. Nicola Walker, famed for appearances in Unforgotten, Spooks and more, noted that Sue Perkins, presenter of Bake Off, Just a Minute and many other shows, was a cigarette-smoking, men's coat-wearing irresponsible 'College mother' who borrowed her bike and immediately lost it.
 

Two women seated on stage laughing


The discussion, in front of an audience so packed we filled two lecture theatres with a relay to the second, centred around failure, friendship, and the importance of taking chances on unconventional students. All agreed that the College has shaped them, supported them, and given them the opportunity both to succeed and to fail. Their friendship, and shared experiences in the Footlights and other Cambridge drama, had provided the foundation for their future success.

Thank you to Sue, Nicola, and Sarah for sharing your stories with us. We hope you enjoy this chance to watch (or re-watch if you were lucky enough to attend our event) this wonderful conversation.