Siobhán McSweeney
- Actor, director and writer
Press clippings Page 4
Derry Girls creator and stars respond to Whittingdale
The stars of Derry Girls have hit back after a leading UK Government minister said that the hit comedy was a great example of "Britishness". Its creator Lisa McGee, hailing from Derry herself, said she "can't be dealing" with the show being called "distinctively British".
Lauren Harte, Belfast Live, 17th September 2021Derry Girls set to enter Bake Off tent for New Year
Leading cast members of the Channel 4 comedy hit will try their hand in special show for New Year's Day.
The Herald, 7th November 2019Derry Girls returns for third series on Channel 4
Channel 4 has ordered a third series of hit sitcom Derry Girls following record ratings for the second series, which finished airing this week.
British Comedy Guide, 9th April 2019Derry Girls episode 2, review
Iconoclastic sitcom that deserves its growing reputation.
Sean O'Grady, The Independent, 12th March 2019Derry Girls review
A triumphant and exuberant return for the Channel 4 sitcom.
Sean O'Grady, The Independent, 5th March 2019TV preview: Derry Girls, C4
This is a show that rarely hits a bum note.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 4th March 2019The 50 best TV shows of 2018: No 6 - Derry Girls
The year's breakout comedy was a giddy mix of poignancy and nostalgia - and its subject matter couldn't have been timelier.
Shilpa Ganatra, The Guardian, 13th December 2018Written by Lisa McGee (who also wrote London Irish), Derry Girls was commissioned for a second series after just one episode, and you can see why. While the initial idea - the antics of 1990s Northern Irish schoolgirls, juxtaposed with the Troubles - doesn't sound too promising, the series has managed to drag giggles out of chip shops, sullen Ukrainian visitors, fake Virgin Mary miracles and more, with the Troubles mainly relegated to a grim background hum or even, sometimes, a mere traffic-related inconvenience.
The result is a fast-paced comedy flipbook, evoking the likes of The Inbetweeners, Father Ted and Bad Education, with a soundtrack featuring everything from Madonna to Vanilla Ice. While the Derry Girls actors range in ages from 20s to early 30s, they and the lone British schoolboy (Dylan Llewellyn) look the part, and you don't have to suspend disbelief as they clatter about like the Irish St Trinian's, led astray by delinquent, foul-mouthed, boy-crazy Michelle (Jamie-Lee O'Donnell).
In the last episode of the series, elastic-faced Erin (Saoirse-Monica Jackson) took over the school magazine (proposed cover line: "Shoes of the world"), her earnest sidekick, Clare (Nicola Coughlan), came out as a lesbian, and fey Orla (Louisa Harland) was declared "gifted" at step aerobics. Other characters include menacing Granda Joe (p]Ian McElhinney]), weary Da Gerry (Tommy Tiernan), intense Ma Mary (Tara Lynne O'Neill), eccentric Aunt Sarah (Kathy Kiera Clarke) and acerbic headmistress-nun Sister Michael (Siobhan McSweeney). Derry Girls isn't perfect - sometimes the manic, fizzy-pop energy veers too far into ice-cream headache territory - but there's plenty to justify that second series.
Barbara Ellen, The Guardian, 11th February 2018It'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.
David Stubbs, The Guardian, 8th February 2018Derry Girls, episode 1 review
As much a black comedy about the Troubles as a teenage nostalgia fest.
Ed Power, The Telegraph, 4th January 2018