Derry Girls: hit Channel 4 sitcom bows out on a high
The third and final season is upon us, and it opens where the second left off

Derry Girls has been one of the most joyously funny TV sitcoms in years, said Hannah Jane Parkinson in The Observer. Inspired by the writer Lisa McGee’s teenage years at a Catholic school in Northern Ireland in the mid-1990s, it has proved a startlingly effective combination of comedy and drama – a masterpiece, in fact, of “pathos, humour and double denim”.
Now, its third and final season is upon us, and it opens where the second left off. The gang – Erin, Clare, Orla, Michelle and cousin James, the “wee English fella” – are awaiting their GCSE results, and decide to pass the time making a short film about the Troubles.
It’s not pivotal to the action, but the scene is “typical of how the show handles its context”, said Nick Hilton on The Independent. “Derry Girls is neither about, nor not about, the Troubles. Instead, it’s about the resilience of human vanity and self-absorption in the face of the greatest challenges.” Just as in M*A*S*H the US army doctors “had a capacity to be drunk and disobedient, even under constant threat of shelling, Derry Girls is an electric depiction of adolescent monomania”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
There was reason to fear that this series might feel like an afterthought, said Ed Power in The Irish Times. Since the sitcom was first broadcast in 2018, various key players have moved on to other projects. McGee has written a Channel 5 drama, and Nicola Coughlan (Clare) has been busy shooting Bridgerton. But such fears proved misplaced. On the evidence of the first episode, this will be “a victory lap to savour”.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Labubu: the 'creepy' dolls sparking brawls in the shops
Craze for the pint-sized soft toys has reached fever pitch among devotees
-
The top period dramas to stream now
The Week Recommends Heaving bosoms and billowing shirts are standard fare in these historical TV classics
-
Women need more pain management during gynecological procedures
Under the radar Pain should no longer be ignored
-
The cinematic beauty of Sicily's Aeolian Islands
The Week Recommends These scattered islands have inspired film directors since the 1950s
-
6 lounge-ready homes with conversation pits
Feature Featuring a terrazzo-flanked pit in California and a fire-side pit in Nevada
-
Is a River Alive?: a 'powerful synthesis of literature, activism and ethics'
The Week Recommends Robert Macfarlane's latest book centres on his journeys to four river systems around the world
-
Good One: an 'intensely compelling' coming-of-age tale
The Week Recommends India Donaldson's 'quietly devastating' debut feature about a teenage girl's life-changing camping trip
-
The best lemon pepper wings in Atlanta
Feature Marinated turkey wings, a Korean barbecue sauce combo and an off-menu staple
-
Film reviews: Friendship and Fight or Flight
Feature An awkward dad unravels after he's unfriended and Josh Hartnett attempts a John Wick sidestep
-
Art review: Ai, Rebel: The Art and Activism of Ai Weiwei
Feature Seattle Art Museum, through Sept. 7
-
Book reviews: 'Second Life: Having a Child in the Digital Age' and 'Mark Twain'
Feature Navigating pregnancy in the digital age and an exploration of Mark Twain's private life