Saoirse-Monica Jackson

Derry Girls is the funniest thing on TV

Lisa McGee's sitcom has already been renewed for another series by Channel 4, and deserves it for its wicked sense of humour and pitch-perfect 90s nostalgia.

Derry Girls, episode three review

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

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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.

"My name is Erin Quinn. I'm 16 years old and I come from a place called Derry." This narrated introduction to Derry Girls (C4) is not all it seems: Erin's weird cousin Orla was reading aloud from Erin's purloined diary, much to Erin's consternation.

Set in 1990s Northern Ireland and loosely based on the teen years of writer Lisa McGee (Being Human), Derry Girls is such a fresh look at growing up with the Troubles as a constant backdrop that it sometimes unsettles, although it mostly stays on the charming side of wicked. Erin (Saoirse Monica Jackson) and her friends long to break free from the conformity of their convent school, but lack the resolve for even minor defiance. "I'm not being individual on me own," says Clare.

Rounding out the group is loudmouth loose cannon Michele, who turns up to the first day of school with her English cousin James, the son of her aunt Cathy. "She went to England to get an abortion and never came back," said Michele. "Never had the abortion either."

Such difficulties as the girls face spring as much from their desire to fit in as from their attempts at rebellion, and the Troubles are presented, so far, as an inconvenience - soldiers boarding school buses, bombed bridges ruining plans - far less frightening than stone-faced headmistress Sister Michael.

You couldn't call Derry Girls nostalgic, exactly; it doesn't make me long to be the only English boy in a 90s Irish girls' school without any men's loos. But the period is recreated with care, and the script is affectionate, foul-mouthed and funny. I'm looking forward to next week.

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.

Derry Girls review

A female Inbetweeners - set during the Troubles.

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.