How to Make Zombie-Like Demons Relevant in 2016

One of the first things you see is a woman squatting and pissing on another woman's chest. They're in an abandoned warehouse, and until about a minute ago, the woman doing the pissing was in an evil clown mask, joined by a second masked figure.

This isn't a fetish thing. It's an exorcism. A makeshift "looking at Google on your phone while going through the steps" exorcism. "You need to mark her with your scent, like a lion," says the second clown, as she and her partner run through the presumed necessary steps for a demon-purging piss. She pauses. "It doesn't actually say 'like a lion', I just thought it would be a useful analogy."

With a bit more back-and-forth, the ritual attempt starts, and so begins Crazyhead. It's a new E4 show from Howard Overman, who wrote Misfits and, in the process, earned a reputation for being able to nestle sci-fi – superpowers! Haunting spirits! – next to everyday dark comedy. Swap the superhero juvenile offenders of Howard Overman's last series for demon-hunting women in their early twenties and you're about there. While a few writers have compared the show to Buffy, presumably because it features women tasked with destroying the often stylishly-dressed undead, Crazyhead lobs for laughs in a way Sarah Michelle Gellar and co didn't.

"It's the hardest thing about the show, but one I think we do really well, as Brits," says co-lead Susan Wokoma, who plays that demon hunter persuading her partner to pee on an old friend in the show's pilot. "We're very good at making comedy and tragedy sit really close to each other. Especially in Howard Overman's writing – and I'm a big Misfits fan – that helps. He's writing in his voice, and once you tap into that you can't be too heavy about it."

Instead, you just have to roll with how the show will hop from horror – a gagged woman, screaming in a car boot – to humour: that woman wriggling beneath co-lead Cara Theobald's Amy as she pees. "You sort of can't take it too seriously," Susan continues, chuckling, "even though there are moments where horrible and sad things happen. You have to allow yourself to be raw and open, sort of like a child. How they laugh one minute and cry the next."

When it works best, Susan does most of the comedic heavy lifting – a skill she realised came naturally, from her National Youth Theatre adolescence through to drama school and a part in Michaela Coel's brilliant Chewing Gum. Cara's character, Amy, is the sort of sweet, girl-next-door foil to Susan's Raquel, who swears, over-shares and flounders her way from one social situation to the next. You learn that what seems like constant foot-in-mouth awkwardness is more of a shield Raquel's character has built up to deal with the fact that she, unlike everyone else she's ever known, can see that there are demons. Everywhere. And she makes it her duty to hunt them down and kill them, before they can end her life by possessing her body.

"In Raquel's case, what's come with the responsibility of seeing the demons and deciding to kill them is that she's lonely," Susan says. "That quirkiness – that social awkwardness – has come from somebody who has been very alone. Even her brother doesn't know what's going on, and she's orchestrated it that way to be able to go out, kill some demons and come home to a normal, calm environment."

So when Raquel – who's been prescribed medication by a psychiatrist in a bid to dampen her "seer" abilities – meets Amy, they realise they've both got this gift. And, as is Howard's calling card, they're not going to ignore it.

Misfits grew into a much-loved cult classic, even with its revolving door of cast members and intermittently ridiculous subplots. And Howard understands that he's working with a similar template here, mashing the ludicrously unreal with the everyday. "If you can make something have a reality to it," he recently said to Complex, "no matter how ridiculous it is, people like the idea that it could be happening to them, or happening next door. I think that makes it more relatable, and more human and funny. We try really hard, even in the most ridiculous moments, to give it a grounded reality."

The main places where Crazyhead loses its way are when its humour feels less believable than the fact that demons walk among us. In a genre that's taken off since Misfits' days – see: The Walking Dead, this year's Outcast – what's meant to set Crazyhead apart is how it pulls lols out from the brink of death. Hollywood's already nicked the Misfits idea of putting "relatable" characters in extreme situations, pulling humour from them reacting less like heroes and more like us – you just need to glance at Kick-Ass, Attack the Block and This Is the End to see that for yourself.

So what would Susan do if faced with a real-life demon situation? "I'd get a baton off eBay, all the relevant resources I need, and I'd just go vigilante to save the world. You may as well. It's either that or be killed. That's what I say – I'd probably hide and cry – but in my head, I'd look it up."

Crazyhead debuted on E4 on Wednesday the 19th of October and you can catch up on the first three of its six episodes on-demand

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