Ian McElhinney

Finishing this week was Derry Girls; Lisa McGee's semi-autobiographical sitcom set during the height of the troubles in Northern Ireland in the 1990's. When I wrote about the first episode I talked about how my favourite moments involved the family of the comedy's protagonist Erin (Saoirse-Monica Jackson) specifically her parents Mary and Gerry (Tara Lynne O'Neill and Tommy Tiernan) and her granddad Joe (Ian McElhinney). This assertion proved to be an accurate assessment of Derry Girls as I personally felt the family scenes clicked more than when Erin had to overcome a series of problems with her cousin Orla (Louisa Harland) and hapless friends Clare and Michelle (Nicola Coughlan and Jamie-Lee O'Donnell) as well as Michelle's awkward English cousin James (Dylan Llewellyn). The scenes with the youngsters felt awfully cartoonish as if they'd been lifted from the pages of a Beano-esque comic strip with the actresses not helping the cause by overplaying their parts. Conversely the scenes between Erin's family were well-constructed and well-played including a subplot in the fourth episode where Mary and sister Sarah (Kathy Kiera Clare) where horrified when they'd learnt Joe had a new lady friend. I similarly enjoyed the fifth episode where the family were going on their annual holiday that coincided with the Orange March and discovered that they were harbouring a stowaway who wanted to cross the border. But it was Thursday's finale that showed the most promise as every character was perfectly utilised and the comedy felt more authentic than it had done throughout the series. Whilst the storyline involving Erin's family and a lost camera shop docket was hilarious as ever, it was the plot revolving around the girls which provided more memorable moments. With Erin single-handedly attempting to run the school's magazine, she stole a story from an anonymous pupil writing about how hard it was to be secretly gay. When the author of the piece was revealed to be Claire, Erin questioned her friendship with her only for the pair to come together to support Orla's strange step-aerobic-themed entry to the school's talent show. This was the first time where an episode of Derry Girls impressed me and I finally saw what others who'd be raving about the comedy all series had seen from the outset. I'm now hoping that the already-announced second will capitalise on the promise evidenced in the series one finale because if it does Derry Girls could be one of Channel 4's best sitcoms of the last few years.

Derry Girls: comedy you need to beat the January blues

Lisa McGee's coming of age tale is causing a stir online - here's why.

Boy trouble, parent trouble and the actual Troubles are all fodder for this promising new sitcom set in early 1990s Northern Ireland and based on the schooldays of creator Lisa McGee. Saoirse Monica Jackson stars as 16-year-old Erin, frustrated at every turn by the no-nonsense nuns, her schoolmates and family (Game of Thrones' Ian McElhinney as Granda is terrifying). The punchlines are rather sparsely spread, but the characters soon feel like old friends.

TV review: Derry Girls, C4

In fact forget I ever mentioned trying to avoid mentioning Mrs Brown's Boys. Apart from the domestic inter-generational family banter there is little similarity here. It isn't even set in the same place. And there's another difference. Derry Girls is funny.

Derry Girls, episode 1 review

As much a black comedy about the Troubles as a teenage nostalgia fest.