Those who missed the third season of Derry Girls while it was airing on Channel 4 last year have been given a second chance to say goodbye to the much-loved characters as the final episodes are now streaming on Netflix.
Given that, at the time of writing, it’s the third most-watched show on the streaming service in the UK, it’s fair to say there’ll be a lot of people left wondering what to do with themselves once they’re done with that impactful final episode.
Well, if you’re missing Derry Girls, we just might have some exciting news for you. On Tuesday morning, Channel 4 announced a new show written by Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee.
Billed as a “comedy thriller” and “not so much a ‘whodunit’ as a ‘what the hell happened’”, the new series How To Get To Heaven From Belfast focusses on a trio of life-long friends, whose lives are turned upside down when they discover an old friend from school has died.
A Channel 4 press release explains: “The eight-part comedy series will follow Saoirse, Robyn and Dara who have been friends since school.
“Now in their late thirties they lead very different lives. Saoirse a successful writer with a compulsion to hit the self-destruct button, Robyn, a sweary, stressed out mother of three young boys, and Dara, a full-time carer of an elderly parent, who hasn’t managed to move out of her teenage bedroom.
“When the women each receive an email informing them of the death of Greta, an old classmate they were once very close with, there’s clearly some unspoken, unfinished business.
“The friends decide to attend Greta’s wake and discover all may not be quite as it seems. They soon find themselves embroiled in a dark and twisted mystery. It’s absolutely terrifying. But it’s also.... utterly thrilling.”
The press release continues: “These women are about to embark on the most exciting adventure of their lives. An adventure that will take them from their native Belfast, a city full of ghosts, the pain of the past plastered on every mural, to the mythic wildness of rural Donegal and right across Ireland, as they attempt to put the pieces of the puzzle together and uncover the truth. Even if their own complicated, chaotic and messy lives often get in the way.”
Lisa McGee enthused: “I’ve wanted to make a comedy thriller set in Northern Ireland for such a long time. I cannot wait to share these flawed funny women with everyone.”
Derry Girls debuted in 2018 to huge critical acclaim, and ran for three seasons.
As well as rave reviews, the show pulled in massive viewing figures, with the first series becoming Channel 4′s biggest comedy launch since 2004 and the most-watched TV series in North Ireland since modern records began in 2002.
Channel 4 has said further announcements about How To Get To Heaven From Belfast – including its cast – will be announced “in due course”.