Channel 4 unveils Rosie Jones sitcom Pushers

FIRST LOOK: Comedian Rosie Jones stars in her first ever sitcom, Pushers, about a young woman who builds an illegal drugs empire after her state benefits are cut. It is due to launch on Channel 4 in the UK in June.

Having had her state benefits cut to shreds after being made redundant, a young woman with very little left to lose begins to build an illegal drugs empire. But Emily (Jones) isn’t your average street-dealing dope peddler – she’s sharp, funny, biting, highly educated – and on top of all that, she has cerebral palsy.

People have underestimated Emily her entire life. If they’re not patronising her for completing the most menial of tasks, they’re pretending she’s not there. What better disguise could there be for criminal activity than to be entirely written off by the same broken system which exists to protect the law?

Joining the cast of Pushers alongside Rosie are Ryan McParland (Say Nothing) as Ewen, Jon Furlong (The Last Kingdom) as Sean, Lynn Hunter (The Personal History of David Copperfield) as Pat, Rhiannon Clements (Vera) as Jo, Ruben Reuter (The Dumping Ground) as Harry, Libby Mai (We Are Lady Parts) as Hope, Trevor Dwyer-Lynch (Coronation Street) as Minibus Masir and Clive Russell (Game of Thrones) as Emily’s dad Clive.

Written by Jones and Peter Fellows based on their award-winning Channel 4 Comedy Blap called Disability Benefits, the six-part series is produced by Merman Television and 2LE Media. Executive producers are Clelia Mountford for Merman Television and Michael Livingstone and Tom Thostrup for 2LE. The series producer is Charlie Laurie from Merman.

Disability Benefits was created by Jones, Fellows and Tom Thostrup and won Best Newform Drama Series at the C21 International Drama awards last year. Channel 4’s Comedy Blaps have historically been a development breeding ground for several series commissions, including We Are Lady Parts, Stath Lets Flats, Home and Dead Pixels.