In Pushers, the comedian and actor plays a disabled woman from Yorkshire who turns to crime after her benefits are cut. She talks about beating trolls, ‘inhumane’ Labour – and her love of gravy

‘No,” says Rosie Jones with a laugh. “I have never done any drug-related illegal activity, believe it or not. But I respect your attempt to try to get me to reveal I am an underground drug dealer. Sorry – not the world I live in!”

We’re having this conversation because Pushers, the comedian and actor’s new series about a disabled woman who turns to drug dealing when her benefits are stopped, kicks off this week on Channel 4. Jones wrote the script and stars as the main character, Emily. How much of it is influenced by her own life? There are, undoubtedly, similarities. “From the very beginning,” Jones says, referring to when she originally came up with the idea, back in 2018, “we knew my character would be northern, working class and disabled.” That was important for two reasons: firstly, Jones’s favourite sitcoms growing up all featured “gritty” northern characters; and secondly, those sitcoms lacked any representation of disability.

Despite its twisted characters and unremitting plotlines, the Bafta-winning sitcom has become an unlikely hot property for the BBC. The secret, says creator Kat Sadler: dealing with things in ‘the most unenlightened way possible’

Few writers take criticism well, fewer actively court it. Kat Sadler, however, has an insatiable appetite for negative feedback. When crafting her BBC sitcom Such Brave Girls, the 31-year-old frequently runs the scripts past her younger sister and co-star Lizzie Davidson – but she isn’t looking for praise. Instead, “she wants you to tear it to pieces”, says Davidson. “She loves it.”

“I get off on it,” confirms Sadler, with matter-of-fact melancholy.