‘F*** trying to privatise Channel 4’: Nicola Coughlan defends network as Derry Girls series 3 begins

Culture secretary Nadine Dorries has announced plans to sell channel

Nicola Coughlan has defended Channel 4 in wake of fears of privatisation as the new series of Derry Girlsaired.

Last week, culture secretary Nadine Dorries announced that the government intended to push ahead with selling the UK TV network, commenting that its “salad days are in the past”.

On Tuesday (12 April) night, the long-awaited third and final series of Derry Girls began.

After the episode aired, Coughlan, who plays Claire, shared a picture to Instagram as she gave a middle finger to the camera in costume.

“Thank you for all the love for #DerryGirls and F*** trying to privatise @channel4,” she wrote.

“Sign the petition in my bio,” she added, linking to a change.org e-petition calling for the end of the privatisation process. It has been signed nearly 400,000 times.

Channel 4 has been publicly owned since it was founded in 1982 and is funded by advertising.

Dorries said that in privatising it, Channel 4 would be able to grow and invest in better technology to compete with streamers such as Netflix.

Derry Girls is one of Channel 4’s biggest international exports, being marketed in the US as Netflix original programming.

Following the backlash, Dorries said that she was being attacked by a “lefty luvvie lynch mob” with a personal vendetta against her.

However, plans to sell off the channel are expected to face opposition in the House of Lords, with between 15 to 20 Conservative MPs reportedly prepared to vote against the government.