Rosie Jones lands Disability Benefits with Channel 4, her first sitcom
- Rosie Jones is writing and will star in Disability Benefits, a Channel 4 sitcom about a woman with cerebral palsy who becomes a drug dealer when her benefits are cut
- Produced by Sharon Horgan's production company Merman with 2LE, filming on the six episode series begins shortly, to air next year
- "It has always been my dream to have my own sitcom and now it is coming true! Bring it on!" said Jones
Rosie Jones is breaking bad with her first sitcom, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.
Playing Emily, a young woman with cerebral palsy who has her disability allowance cut and launches her own drug dealing empire, Disability Benefits on Channel 4 follows the successful piloting of a Comedy Blap last year, the scheme that previously spawned Stath Lets Flats, We Are Lady Parts, Home and Dead Pixels.
"I am incredibly excited to be making Disability Benefits for Channel 4," Jones told BCG. "It has always been my dream to have my own sitcom and now it is coming true! Bring it on!"
Written by the comic, who was born with axatic cerebral palsy, with Avenue 5 writer-director Peter Fellows, the six 30-minute episodes reveals the "sharp, funny, biting, highly educated" Emily to not be your average dope peddler.
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?
Disability Benefits is the first full comedy acting role for Jones, who has previously appeared in six episodes of the BBC medical drama Casualty, and in a guest role in Shakespeare & Hathaway - Private Investigators. It consolidates the stand-up's relationship with Channel 4, for whom she already hosts the travelogue Trip Hazard and last month presented the controversially-titled documentary about ableism, Am I A R*tard?, for the broadcaster.
Transmission and further casting details of Disability Benefits have yet to be announced.
Created by Jones, Fellows and producer Tom Thostrup, the pilot also featured Angela Griffin, Ryan McParland, Guy Rhys, Lynn Hunter, Mark Monero and Will Brown, winning Best Newform Drama Series at the C21 International Drama Awards, alongside Best New Scripted Director for Sophie King (Buffering) at the Edinburgh TV Festival's New Voice Awards this year.
Produced by Charlie Laurie (Frank Of Ireland) for Merman Television (Motherland, Catastrophe), the series is a co-production with 2LE Media (Britain Today Tonight, Asylum). The executive producers are Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford for Merman and Thostrup and Michael Livingstone for 2LE.
"We are delighted to be working with Rosie, Peter, 2LE and Channel 4, to bring Disability Benefits to a series, following the award-winning success of the original Comedy Blap last year," said Mountford. "Rosie has a truly unique voice and storytelling ability, alongside impeccable comedic timing, and we are proud to be working with her on her first scripted TV project."
Thostrup added: "Rosie exudes big criminal mastermind energy in real life so we're very excited about working with her to bring that to the screen in Disability Benefits."
The series was commissioned for Channel 4 by head of comedy Charlie Perkins and Laura Riseam, comedy commissioning editor.
"Rosie is a National Treasure at Channel 4, with her distinctively funny and powerful work felt across all genres," said Perkins, "so making her first sitcom alongside the huge talents of Peter, Merman and 2LE is the perfect next step for this special force of nature. Disability Benefits adds to an increasingly exciting slate of Channel 4 comedy shows for next year and beyond."
Disability Benefits was piloted in April last year, alongside six other Blaps from the likes of Kiell Smith-Bynoe, Jordan Brookes, Jess Thom and Harry Trevaldwyn.
News of its commission caps a successful week for Jones. A second series of her Disability Comedy Extravaganza stand-up showcase launched on UKTV Play on Tuesday, when it was also announced that she will host the Comedy Central game show Out Of Order. It will see two teams of comedians compete in front of a studio audience to place members of the public in the correct order in categories such as, "Who earns the most?" and "Who's had the most one-night stands?" Recording this autumn, it will air internationally on Comedy Central channels next year.