Rosie Jones’s history-making sitcom Pushers won’t be returning for a second series – despite receiving stellar reviews and a Bafta nomination.
The comedy, created by Jones and Peter Fellows, starred the stand-up comic as a young woman with cerebral palsy who resorts to dealing drugs after her disability benefits are cut. Pushers was the first British sitcom to feature a cast in which the majority of actors are disabled, with Jon Furlong, Rhiannon Clements and Ruben Reuter starring alongside Jones.
While Jones was nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy at the Bafta TV Awards earlier this year, The Independent understands that Pushers has been cancelled by Channel 4.
A spokesperson for Channel 4 confirmed the news, saying in a statement: “We’re so proud of Pushers and would like to thank Rosie Jones, Peter Fellows, 2LE Media and Merman Television for their brilliant and dedicated work on the series.
“We look forward to working together on future projects. Like all broadcasters, we regularly review our programming to ensure we’re offering the right range of content for our viewers. This means making difficult decisions on which shows to rest, return or conclude.”
The Independent has contacted Rosie Jones for comment.
After airing in June last year, Pushers was hailed as a “madcap triumph” and “hilarious” by critics, with The Independent’s Katie Rosseinsky praising it for balancing “silly, laugh-out-loud gags” with “clever observational comedy that skewers attitudes to disability”.
Speaking to the paper at the time, Jones said that she relished working with a disabled cast. “I get so annoyed with TV shows and films that have one disabled character,” she said.
“You just know that the creator and the writer have gone, ‘Great! We’ve got one! Move on.’ Then they give all these disabled storylines to that one character. But disability is not a personality trait. And on top of that, 24 per cent of the UK has a disability. A quarter. That is much more than one, and move on.”
Pushers isn’t the only Bafta-nominated show to get the axe this month – Aimee Lou Wood’s BBC comedy Film Club also won’t be back for another series.
It was reported on Monday that the decision to end the show was mutual. Wood was nominated in the Leading Actress category at Sunday’s Baftas, but ultimately lost to Prisoner 951’s Narges Rashidi.
Later this year, Jones is set to perform at Latitude Festival, which is partnered with The Independent, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
