Derry Girls

Lisa McGee's comedy takes place during Northern Ireland's Troubles, but exudes a timeless and universal appeal.

What do they do now that peace is looming and adulthood is staring them in the face, threatening to change everything about the world as they know it? The impeccable writing pays homage to Irish history, and crucially honors the legacy of female friendships (and their one English fella), especially those formed in hallowed hallways and during sleepovers. When he claims he still feels out of place, Michelle poignantly tells him: “Being a Derry girl is a state of mind.” And that right there, folks, is the line of the show. Derry Girls doesn’t dismiss the seriousness of the conflict, though. In the final seven episodes, the girls and their unlikely English lad get to mature without losing any of their eccentricities. As season three kicks off, the Troubles are almost over, and our protagonists are about to turn 18. The on-point Irish jargon (helpful tip: keep the subtitles on) makes Derry Girls more immersive. Derry Girls offers an excellent snapshot of the ’90s Derry bubble, aided by shooting on location. Derry Girls’ entertaining teens—Erin (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), her cousin Orla (Louisa Harland), and friends Clare (Nicola Coughlan) and Michelle (Jamie-Lee O’Donnell)—have a knack for landing in bizarre situations. The show’s beauty lies in an effervescent portrait of friendship, with the flawless cast’s comedic spark crackling through the screen. After all, being a teen is a dumpster fire no matter where in the world you suffer through it. A hilarious and hyper-specific ’90s nostalgia trip, it’s focused on the four titular Derry girls and one “wee English fella.” The series, which returns to Netflix in the U.S.

'Derry Girls' star Saoirse-Monica Jackson on Lisa McGee's writing, the season-three finale, the inspiration for Erin's many faces, that kiss with James, ...

I remember writing to the BRIT School (a prestigious performing-arts school in London) at age 12, and you had to be 16 to go there. And I just love the sheer and utter balls of Erin kissing him first; I love that she went in for it. Erin is a mash-up of myself as a teenager, Lisa as a teenager, and the girls of Derry today. I love the idea of her and Bill and Hillary just sat around together with a bowl of popcorn watching Derry Girls. She even says it in that closing speech — that she’s scared of the world and doesn’t feel ready for it all. I almost wanted to see more of them as a couple. She was sort of going through that time as a teenager when no matter what we said — and I think I’m quite a cool older cousin — she was repulsed or acted like we were ruining her life. My brother went to school in the south, and I went to school in the north. My mom was from the south, from Donegal, and my dad’s from Derry, so I think I had the best of both worlds. That nature gets passed on to the young girls — fighting for what you want and what you need, believing in who you are, and having this thirst for the entire world. I think the success of the show was mainly down to Lisa’s writing. But when Jackson speaks, the differences between the actor and her character become apparent: Erin talks at two octaves higher, is much more animated, and will contort her entire body just to make a point or scrunch her face in multiple directions at once to show disgust, awe, or incomprehension.

"I'm the only writer on the show, so it's kind of been my life for the last five years," admits McGee.

People always say they'd never want to go back and relive their teenage years, but I kind of did, and it's been so weird and lovely. [fight for their reproductive rights](https://www.teenvogue.com/story/abortion-walkout-reproductive-rights) in the U.S. The show is always a balm, but right now, as teen girls

The wains compete in the singing competition 'Starz in their Eyes' while Mary's at her wit's end. A recap of season three, episode two of 'Derry Girls,' ...

I know this is developmentally appropriate behavior, and I know the show isn’t on Erin’s side at all on this matter, but I would like to note once more what an absolute dickhead she’s being at this moment. Obviously, Mary and Gabriel are not having an affair; instead, Gabriel is encouraging her to take her literary nerdery to the next level. Erin can’t contain her sadness and fury any longer, either, and in typical Erin fashion, she hits fifth gear right away, accusing Gabriel of being “just a pervert with a jazzy-jumpered ma fetish.” A lavish chef’s kiss to this triumph of incandescent, hyperbolic rage. Gabriel tells her nobody needs to know and passes her a piece of paper with a phone number on it, saying it’s a standing offer: “I know how to get what I want.” On the wains’ side of things, it’s Children in Need Week, and they’re rehearsing a song-and-dance number for the school’s Starz in Their Eyes night in hopes of winning the opportunity to perform it live on the BBC. It’s time for the wains’ performance as the musical queens of 1997, the Spice Girls. He remains a rather pitiful scrounger of coolness points and time in the spotlight, which he’ll hog up this time as the onstage host of the event. Game, set, match: The unbelievable is actually happening, and Erin’s world is rearranging itself around her in real time. It’s nearly impossible to believe Mary would conduct an affair right under Gerry’s nose, but the wains’ suspicion is raised then hoisted way, way up in the manner of an overwrought mainsail of emotions when they follow a suspiciously well-dressed Mary to what she’s claimed is a party for a friend. Viewers voted on the performances, and the most successful contestants would perform live on the season finale.) Father Peter, whose hair thing this season is a truly nauseating and desperate low ponytail, will play host in this episode. Creeping down the stairs, she can see them standing close enough to be urgently whispering and hears something about how badly Mary wants to do something but feels she can’t. In under two and a half minutes, we see Mary subjected to the following: her sister Sarah’s typically harebrained scheme to trick some store into giving her 22 free items of makeup, the boiler being on the blink and nobody leaping to call the plumber, Erin inquiring about the location of her fountain pen, and Orla’s plaintive wails upon discovering they’re out of chocolate Pop-Tarts.

Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for Derry Girls. Nearly five months after the series finale aired on Channel 4, U.S.-based Netflix subscribers ...

Lisa wrote in her statement about the end of Derry Girls. The show wraps up in 1998 (the finale takes place after a one-year time jump) with the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, which many consider to be the official end of The Troubles. The characters themselves were at the right age for a natural ending to Derry Girls, and the actors who play them are also busy with other projects. "It was always the plan to say goodbye after three series'," Lisa wrote in a Twitter statement in 2021. start to become adults, while around them the place they call home starts to change too and Northern Ireland enters a new more hopeful phrase — which was a small, magical window of time..." The third season debuted on Netflix on Oct.