Nicola Coughlan

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 writer Lisa McGee explains THAT ending

The hit Channel 4 comedy came to a rather poignant end so we caught up with its creator - and the girls themselves - to get the inside story.

It's the last episode in what has been an excellent series, so much so that it gets away with having a 31-year-old (Nicola Coughlan) playing a 16-year-old (Clare Devlin). Tonight, though, it's Erin who comes to the fore, desperate for a juicy exclusive for the school magazine. This arrives in the form of a lesbian scandal. Sister Michael, however, played with wonderfully dry cynicism by Siobhan McSweeney, puts the mockers on that. A lovely finale, tinged with a bitter reminder of the Troubles against which it is set.

Derry Girls, episode three review

Derry Girls (Channel 4) feels like an indie antidote to the full-on populism of Mrs Brown's Boys.

Derry Girls: Fans in meltdown, Nicola Coughlan is 31

Fans in meltdown after discovering one of the main stars is 31-YEARS-OLD.

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.

Set in the early 1990's, Derry Girls focuses on Erin (Saoirse Jackson); an aspiring author whose inner most thoughts are communicated via her diary. One of my favourite gags in the entire episode came early on when we heard an exert from Erin's diary only to learn it was her younger cousin Orla (Louisa Harland) who was reading it out loud. Completing the gang are pious Claire (Nicola Coughlan); who is participating in a 24-hour fast in this opening instalment and foul-mouthed troublemaker Michelle (Jamie-Lee O'Donnell). One of the big plot points in episode one is the introduction of Michelle's English cousin James who has become the first ever male pupil at the quartet's all girls school as they feared that he would've been beaten up had he attended a neighbouring boys school. Whilst there were elements of Derry Girls that I enjoyed, I found the humour to be quite basic in some places especially in one specific set piece. The most interesting piece element of the comedy is the historical backdrop and I felt that part of the plot was handled quite well. McGee makes it quite clear that the girls are used to having their bus ride diverted by bomb threats and seeing armed soldiers on a daily basis. As a child of the 1990's, I enjoyed the nostalgic references to Macaulay Culkin and Murder She Wrote as well as the period soundtrack. The parts of the first episode that I enjoyed was the interactions between Erin and her parents (Tommy Tiernan and Tara Lynne O'Neill) as this is where the dialogue felt more realistic. However, the dialogue between the girls didn't have the same ring of truth about it and at times felt quite cliched. The punchlines to the central gags were quite obvious with James complaints about the lack of boys' toilets ending with him relieving himself in a bin while Claire broke her fast by chewing on the sandwich of a recently deceased nun. As I think it's quite harsh to judge a sitcom by its first episode alone, especially as this opener was only 22 minutes long, I'm think I'm at least going to watch Derry Girls' second episode before I dismiss it entirely. This is due to the glimpses of promise I saw in the family scenes as well as the references to the early-1990's which appeal to someone like me who grew up during that time.

Derry Girls, episode 1 review

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