Derry Girls

As Lisa McGee's masterclass of a sitcom begins its final season, it comes close to being a model of perfection. It's a bittersweet goodbye.

Derry Girls has never neglected its adult characters – Erin’s mother, father, aunt (Orla’s mother) and grandfather – and the place where mundane household tasks intersect with the family’s intense gossiping style has provided some of the show’s most perfectly observed and distinctive storylines (the big bowl affair from series two is a sublime bit of comedy writing). Previous triumphs in this area mean the series three opener’s stray cat plot feels a bit thin (on the upside, it does prompt a great 90s choker joke), but later episodes ensure the grown-up dimension is as fleshed-out as ever. The climax involves an interview at the police station with Liam Neeson playing the frustrated detective in charge – a starry cameo that underlines the show’s heft, but also serves to temporarily burst the homely, wholly immersive bubble that is the Derry Girls universe. If anything, Derry Girls’ return is a reminder that its airless setting, effusive acting and cosy kitchen-sink detailing combine into something approaching the platonic ideal of a TV sitcom. Over the past four years, Derry Girls has established itself as a cultural juggernaut: not only is it the most-watched series in Northern Ireland on record, it was recently honoured with a reference in The Simpsons (“I. Am. dead,” tweeted McGee in response). Its success is no fluke: the show is a masterclass in hitting the sweet spot between decades-honed sitcom tradition and refreshing nowness. In the two episodes available to view in advance, the Troubles feature less prominently – partly because Ireland in this timeline is entering a period of relative peace. Like myriad comedies before it, Lisa McGee’s semi-autobiographical Derry Girls (Channel 4) – a knockabout schooldays farce set in mid-90s Northern Ireland – has opted to go out on a high with its third series.

We got the usual antics from Erin (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), Michelle (Jamie-Lee O'Donnell), Orla (Louisa Harland), Claire (Nicola Coughlan) and James (Dylan ...

Was that well known or the best casting secret in the world?!" One person wrote: "10 mins in to the new series of the Derry Girls and already the soundtrack is perfection." "Liam Neeson?! Have i been living under a rock?

The excellent opening episode of the final series lived up to expectations, with some classic lines.

A side plot involving Da Gerry and Granda Joe covering up the murder of a rabbit also provides plenty of laughs. Ginger cat Seamus, granda Joe’s new best friend with homicidal tendencies, is a new addition — and a further cause of tension between Joe and Gerry. There is also a delightful cameo from Liam Neeson who plays a Royal Ulster Constabulary officer and questions the Derry Girls about their involvement in a robbery at their Catholic girls' school, Our Lady Immaculate College. But he gets more than he bargained for when Erin turns the tables and starts to interrogate him about the lack of Catholic officers in his police force. In the opening episode, we're taken back in time with hits like How Bizarre by OMC, Freed by Desire from GALA, Perfect 10 by The Beautiful South, Runaway by The Corrs and Wannabe by The Spice Girls. As one Twitter user remarked, keeping Neeson's guest appearance under wraps must have been the best kept secret in Derry... It becomes apparent the five have spent their summer documenting life in Derry under the Troubles in the hopes of an Oscar nod. Of course, a bump into Sister Michael (Siobhán McSweeney) does little to quell anxieties, especially when she reveals she’s already seen their results.

Four years after crashing on to our screens with memorable lines such as "I don't want to be an individual on my own", Derry Girls returns tonight for a ...

"I think anybody who thought they couldn’t go there, because of the conflict, the programme has definitely softened that for them." "The humour carries across all borders, even though in fairness quite a lot of Americans have to use subtitles." She adds that the series allowed people to view Northern Ireland through a new lens. He expects the economic impact of Derry Girls to run into millions of pounds. "It’s the characters themselves, the language, the turns of phrase, essentially the humour. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.

An Irish Hollywood star has made a surprise cameo appearance in returning Channel 4 hit comedy series Derry Girls. Liam Neeson, 69, plays a police inspector ...

Home Or you can email [email protected] at any time. That and the mural (in Derry) were my two moments.”

The third, and final series, saw the return of saw Erin, Orla, Clare, Michelle and James, and in an eventful first episode we saw the gang taken into ...

What an honour to have him in our wee show. "Thanks for watching lads! Our code name for Liam during the shoot was ‘ the big fella’ arguably quite an easily cracked code.

Last night's first episode of Derry Girls caused an explosion on social media after the shock cameo appearance of Liam Neeson as a police Inspector in the ...

The show, set in Derry in the 1990s, returned for the first episode of its third and final season on Tuesday. Twitter hit a crescendo after the episode aired with praise and shock from fans about the hilarity of the storyline. Last night's first episode of Derry Girls caused an explosion on social media after the shock cameo appearance of Liam Neeson as a police Inspector in the RUC.

The final season of beloved show Derry Girls is due to air tonight (Tuesday April 12), with creator Lisa McGee revealing the name of the first episode ahead ...

The 1st episode of our last ever run starts tonight at 9.15 on the Inimitable Channel 4. She said, "The beginning of the end! The beginning of the end!

The Ballymena actor appeared as Chief Constable Byers in the first episode of series 3.

Both Lisa and Michael said that he explained he was "a fan of the show" and they had been calling him 'The Big Fella' to try and keep his identity a secret until the first episode aired on Tuesday. At a Q&A in the Guildhall after the show's premiere in Derry last week, Michael Lennox said it was actually Dame Helen Mirren who told Neeson to watch Derry Girls. Despite Neeson having his own ties to the city, it was actually another famous actress who introduced him to the world of Derry Girls.