A "funny and pointed" Northern comedy series is set to kick off tonight on Channel 4.
Pushers, starring Rosie Jones, follows the comedian in the role of Emily, who begins dealing drugs when her benefits are cut. After all, who would suspect the young woman with cerebral palsy of selling cocaine?
The synopsis reads: "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 (Rosie 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?"
The show, written by Jones and Peter Fellows, was originally a 2022 pilot titled Disability Benefits before being transformed into a six-part series.
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Pushers will air at 10pm tonight on Channel 4, but for those who need to binge-watch the whole series in one go, you can also stream the entire show as a box set.
The cast also includes Ryan McParland, Jon Furlong, Lynn Hunter, Rhiannon Clements, Ruben Reuter, Libby Mai, Trevor Dwyer-Lynch, and Clive Russell.
Sharing several behind-the-scenes pictures from Pushers on Instagram, Taskmaster star Jones opened up about her pride over the "weird, unique, and insanely northern show."
"I can’t believe I’m saying this but the first episode of my sitcom, Pushers, airs tonight on @channel4 at 10pm," she began in the caption.
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"After a seven-year journey, here we are. I can’t even begin to thank all of the people who have helped us get here today. It’s not been an easy journey at times but it has been worth all of the late nights, early mornings and countless showers to rinse all the flour out of my hair.
"I could not have done any of this without my co-writer, director and partner in crime, Peter Fellows. I have never worked with such a kind, thoughtful, funny and talented man. Thank you for leading the ship so brilliantly.
"I am unbelievably proud of this weird, unique, insanely northern show. I hope you all enjoy it half as much as we enjoyed creating it. Lots of love, Emily The Drug Dealer x."
It has already received positive reviews from critics, with The Standard dubbing it a "fun way to spend a few hours" and The Guardian saying it is "funny and pointed."
Pushers will air at 10pm tonight on Channel 4, and is available as a box set to stream in full now
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