Even in life's darkest moments, there's a laugh to be had. Tears of grief turn to giggles of joy, anguished bickering turns to hugs of solidarity, and in moments of heartbreak you'll find glimpses of hilarity.

New ITV comedy The Family Pile leans into this phenomenon, taking one of the most heartbreaking but pivotal periods of a person's life - the death of a parent - and extracting the light from the darkness.

The sitcom tells the story of four sisters - Nicole, Ursula, Yvette and Gaynor - who, in the aftermath of their parents' deaths, prepare for the sale of their childhood home. It's poignant and touching, but the humour provides an antidote to the pain without ever ignoring that it exists.

"We are so rubbish in this country at death, we're so silent about it, and we all go through it and we're all miserable on our own, and there's something about sharing that awfulness that just helps," says Clare Calbraith, 49, who plays "lively, glass half full" middle sister Yvette.

"I'm one of five sisters, and we also lost our mum not that long ago," says Claire Keelan, 47, who plays "perfectionist" high-achiever Ursula.

"You know, when it does happen, it isn't all schmaltzy and sentimental," she adds.

"There's moments of huge, horrific pain, of course, which everyone knows, but there are moments of almost hysterical humour. Everything is so heightened around those times that when you start laughing it's such a release."

"And we missed out the bits where, in reality, you'd be in a foetal position sobbing on the floor!" laughs Calbraith.

"But we all know those bits exist, we don't need reminding of those bits. What we need reminding of is that there is comedy, and hope."

Keelan and Calbraith are joined by Sherlock's Amanda Abbington, who plays "matriarchal", "acerbic" and loyal eldest sister Nicole, and Coronation Street's Alexandra Mardell, who plays Gaynor, the youngest.

All four women are fully-fledged grown-ups with marriages and long-term partners, children, and homes of their own when we meet them in The Family Pile, and three out of the four are firmly in middle age.

"I liked the idea of it being four women in central characters, and not younger women, women slightly older, who've had a bit of experience," says Abbington, 48, acknowledging that it's tragically uncommon that we see a sitcom centred around middle-aged women, a demographic which is all too often made invisible by society.

Instead, The Family Pile seeks to show how "you can have more of a laugh, which is, I think, what a lot of women our age start to realise", Keelan says.

"It's like there's this loosening of not giving a s***, really, and you can have a lot of fun with that," she adds.

"Being this age, where you are going through the trials and tribulations of midlife, whether you've got kids or not, losing parents, all these sorts of things - mostly, I've found with my friends, how we get through it is humour. You know, if you don't laugh..."

"And also, we're 51% of the demographic," says Abbington.

"It affects a lot of people in the country. And I think seeing women, slightly older, just being on television and being normal and being funny, is a very, very good role model. I do think it's really aspirational to women, because they can go out there and not be inhibited about being funny. There is such a stigma about older women being funny, reaching a certain age and then being like, they're invisible now.

"I think with this sitcom, we're not invisible. These characters are so dynamic. We need more of that on telly. And the more you see it, the more it becomes normal."

"I think there's a real problem where women of our age are aged up a little bit," adds Calbraith.

"I know loads of really gorgeous, sexy, funny women who are in their 50s and they get on telly and they give them a grey wig and a cardigan. It's this dumbing down of women.

"It's refreshing to not be able to do that, to just be your age, in all of those multitudes that that means for different women.

"You'd be amazed at how many shows you do where somebody will take you aside and tell you to be less funny. Because, actually, you know, the man is the lead, and they want him to be funny. It happens all the time."

For a series that centres around tragedy, grief and loss in a family, The Family Pile deftly manages to stay in comedy and never tip over into the tragic or doleful. Dealing with such a universal experience - a parent's death - was bound to stir up the cast's emotions, but drawing a line between personal memory and the series' comedy was an important, if at times difficult, distinction for the stars to make.

"We all go through these awful milestones, and humour is often the only thing that pulls us through," says Calbraith.

"It's what makes us human, I suppose. It can't not make you think, but it's comedy, so you can't think too much!"

"I couldn't really go there with my own personal experience for the job, especially because it was a comedy," adds Keelan.

"There were times we had to go back and redo a take - there's one I remember with me and Clare Calbraith when the house had emptied, and we just lost it. Had to walk off. Because you've been through these moments, but it's a comedy, so it's just not appropriate.

"There's definitely moments where I think for the audience watching, those moments will be poignant for them. But then it moves on. And I think that's quite a nice thing, because it's sort of the sweetener, I think, for these things."

The Family Pile starts on STV, at 9.30pm on Tuesday.