Derry Girls - General Discussion

[Cranberry]

Netflix's cracker Irish import, a hit earlier this year on Britain's Channel 4, celebrates what it means to be a female dickhead. Like a gender-swapped take on British teen-raunch classic The Inbetweeners, this six-episode, gloriously foul-mouthed sitcom follows the exploits of four Northern Irish girls — and their wimpy English male tagalong — in the late 1990s as they get into mischief at their Catholic high school and just generally make life more difficult for themselves. Set during the Troubles, a low-level guerrilla war in Northern Ireland between Irish nationalists and British loyalists, the show is also ostensibly about growing up in a hotbed of terrorism, oppression and ethno-nationalist conflict. But, you know, laugh-out-loud hilarious.

From here.

I watched this series yesterday -- it's only six ~22-minute episodes, so it's a quick binge-watch -- and it was hilarious and surprising and somehow mean and sweet at the same time. I was glad to hear that a second season is on the way!

[Straycat80]

I watched the first three episodes last night. This is hilarious! I love all the characters, not just the teenagers but their families, the nuns and the fish and chip lady as well. I can’t wait to watch the next three episodes. 

[Cranberry]

There's not a dud in the bunch! I think Sister Michael is my favorite character; she certainly got a lot of the lines that made me laugh out loud.

[heckkitty]

Watched the first 3 & I love it. My favorite is Grandpa Barriston Selmy, & his interactions with the dad. Everything is hilarious though!!!

[tennisgurl]

Damn you short Irish TV seasons! I want more! 

Loved this, it was so cute and funny, every episode was a winner! It also had a really powerful ending, which I probably should have seen coming. I get nostalgia for my time in Ireland, AND in 90s, the decade I grew up in!

[Arynm]

I just binged the series and I am hooked! So glad that it's getting another season! I love the music and that it's set in the 90's. The ending caught me off guard, i should have seen it coming considering.

[mledawn]

I started to binge this and didn't want to be finished too quickly, so I broke it up into two sessions. What a fantastic show - the ending made me cry a little bit. I remember some of the heated incidents from when I was younger. We went on family holiday to the UK around this time, and there was an IRA bombing in the next town from where we were staying. We were shitting ourselves, and the people in the pub said if they stopped their lives every time there was an IRA bomb or threat, they'd never leave the house. It was a rude awakening for a small kid from small town Ontario, Canada. That, and all the British soldiers at the airports with their automatic rifles and dogs. It was a side of life we could hardly fathom.

I've recommended this show to so many people, it does such a good job of portraying how ridiculous adolescents are and how everything is so BIG when you're a teen. These kids aren't the popular kids, or the biggest "loser" kids, they're just middle of the road teens going thru high school. I can't wait for Season 2!

[MakeMeLaugh]

That ending—omg. What a great show. 

[slf]

Recently finished the season on Netflix and I think this show is funny and charming as hell. Michelle, Mary, Sister Michael, and Grandpa Joe are my favorite. It took a while for Clare and Erin to grow on me, tbh, because the actress who plays Clare really exaggerates her expressions and Erin is very high strung but I've come to love them, too. It's awful but almost everything people say to and about James cracks me up, from his introduction straight through to the finale when Gerry wanted to basically sacrifice him to the Orange Order. (That was probably my favorite episode.)

I'm thrilled the show is already being considered for a third season (and the second debuts in March).

[Ceindreadh]

New season starts airing Tuesday 5th March!

[Cranberry]

I didn't have any subtitles for the first episode of season two, but I'm pleased to say I did all right! Won't get into spoilers but it was fun as always and brought back a good guest character from season one, and I loved Sister Michael meeting another school official who was just as apathetic as she is!

[mledawn]

Caught up to S2E4 last night and I was literally crying with laughter. They haven't let off in the second season at all, it's fantastic. I thought the van driver in ep 3 looked like the poetry teacher from ep 2 so that caught me off for a moment. Clare needs to tone things down a bit, but it's still great. 

[Danny Franks]

So just to let you guys know, my girlfriend is from Omagh, in Northern Ireland, and every single joke, phrase and stereotype in this show is absolutely perfect. I crease up laughing multiple times per episode, and secretly ascribe each of the characters to someone in my girlfriend's family.

I love the blend of absurd humour and the weight of the Troubles that bears down on everyone. I was about the same age as the girls on the show, at this time, and even in England, the Troubles were always in the news - Bombs, assaults, murders, sectarian demonstrations. It was never far away, and the bomb in Manchester in 1996 was as close as it gets.

I knew girls like Michelle, Claire and Erin in school (there were lots of Michelles at my school), the music is the music of my early teenage years. My girlfriend even said she remembered when the polar bear got loose from Belfast Zoo. And she obviously remembers the bomb in Omagh in 1998, when she was a couple of years younger than the characters on the show.

So it's a comedy - a really funny comedy - but it has a great message about the perseverance and drive of adolescence. That no matter what's going on around you, sometimes you feel like you're the centre of the universe.

[Aulty]

Everyone my age from NI that I have talked to absolutely loves this show too. Its so refreshing to see this very specific culture presented through the pop culture lens of that era. For me its the best new show of last year, and I am so glad that they are up for a BAFTA (which they will absolutely win!). Season 2 is an absolute hoot so far. I love Erin's father and grandfather, there is a Northern Irish version of Still Game hidden in that whole dyamic with Callum aswell.

[Wee S]

So, I actually did grow up in the North of Ireland during the 1990s, went to a Catholic school and all and I cant tell you enough how much this tv show is basically a retelling of my life back then. 

The school - our version of Jenny Joyce is the first thing that pops into my head. Then the sayings - basically Michelle is all of us. I adore her. I was more of an Erin myself, for my sins, but I love the whole group together.

To this day I can't stand the sight of soldiers. They used to use the field across the road for manoeuvres - after a while you got used to the helicopters, but I never got used to them driving through our area, standing out the top of their trucks, guns pointed. Or the roadblocks.

Derry Girls is great mixing the comedy with the heavy and just with tonight's episode I couldn't help but tear up. Again. By far the episode at the wake in s2 was the best - could have actually been my own da's wake from last year!

The whole island loves Derry Girls and we're so proud of it - seeing our culture and way of life on tv is fantastic as were used to being forgotten by the UK. 

[mledawn]

Aww I teared up at a few spots in episode 5 and I can't believe only one episode left!?

[Aulty]

15 hours ago, mledawn said:

Aww I teared up at a few spots in episode 5 and I can't believe only one episode left!?

Me too - even if I found the structure of the episode a bit too similar to the Series 1 finale, the scenes were just too poignant to not love. I found Erin's replacement date (trying not to give away too much for ppl waiting for the second seriec on Netflix) and how the situation played out really cute. I hope that gets some space to grow. Orla is just too much 😂

Edited April 3, 2019 by Aulty

[Danny Franks]

Yeah, that ended up being a sweet episode. I don't particularly think there's romance in the offing, but it wouldn't be terrible if there was. Orla's date was a great surprise too.

I liked the way the ending mirrored the first season finale - the adults watching news about the explosion while the kids were having fun. Now, the adults celebrate the IRA ceasefire while the kids are fighting.

It's very obvious in its message that, while the adults and the parents lived the Troubles, and worried all the time, for kids it was just the background of their lives. Kids and teens will always focus in the world that revolves around them, and live their lives.

Edited April 4, 2019 by Danny Franks

[BellyLaughter]

The uncle who takes an eternity to tell a story is my Dad.....and our family reacts in exactly the same way.  Bless

[mledawn]

2 hours ago, BellyLaughter said:

The uncle who takes an eternity to tell a story is my Dad.....and our family reacts in exactly the same way.  Bless

The thing that cracked me up was

Spoiler

Mary asking him to stop and he did! Why don't they just do that all the time?! He seemed not to be bothered by the request.

[Wee S]

14 hours ago, mledawn said:

The thing that cracked me up was

  Reveal spoiler

Mary asking him to stop and he did! Why don't they just do that all the time?! He seemed not to be bothered by the request.

There's an uncle Colm in every Irish family - I had to suffer ours at my uncle's wake two months ago!

A lot of people don't really believe us when we say how true to life Derry Girls is and I've constantly been thinking of times my life has matched a storyline. My favourite one is the Orange Order because as a Catholic, they are the worst. Trying to get a good night's sleep? Can't - they're practicing three streets away and the wind is carrying it. Once I went to collect my Chinese takeaway and got caught up in a march - had to drive **so slowly** behind them, my food was almost cold when I got it!

My fave story happened around the Drumcree standoff in 1997. Mum and I had to go visit granda in his nursing home and it's two buses to get there. It was the Monday before the twelfth and the OO had been told they couldn't March down Garvaghy Road... So they decided to shut down Portadown. However mum and I didn't get back in time - we were on our first bus back to Portadown when the bus driver stopped at a roundabout, 2 miles from our connecting stop and told us we had to get off there because the OO were hijacking buses and burning them out and blocking the roads! So, there's me and my ma, 1pm on a sunny day having to walk through a town shut down with only orangemen and soldiers for miles. I was 13 but knew well enough to order my mum to not say my very Irish name at all until we got home. We managed to get a protestant family friend who lived close by to meet us and 'smuggle' us past the many roadblocks. Took us 3 hours to get home. 

So yeah, Derry Girls is not too far from the truth at all.

[Aulty]

awww the girls' story in the season 2 finale was really cute - a bit predictable in the end, but heartwarming. I still somewhat ship James and Erin, but it was a nice touch to have loud and mouthy Michelle give him the speech.

The old boys' road trip was funny and sister Michael is cynicism is cracking me up every time.

[Demian]

Please tell me the whole "Rock the Boat" thing at the wedding was a joke. I mean, that sort of shit didn't really happen back then, did it?  DID IT?

[Wee S]

2 hours ago, Demian said:

Please tell me the whole "Rock the Boat" thing at the wedding was a joke. I mean, that sort of shit didn't really happen back then, did it?  DID IT?

Still does happen beaut, still does!!

I cried so hard at the end of Derry Girls last night because it reminded me of the hope we all had back then. Having Bill Clinton involved in trying to help us move on... that man was, and forever shall be, a rock star to the people in the North. I know he has his critics (and in some cases deservedly so) but him coming to NI made us feel like we mattered. He was here last year to get an award and it was like no time had passed with how much he's held in regard by us. Due to indifference from Westminster, we could do with some hope like that again.

Roll on series 3. Lisa McGee is a legend.  

[mledawn]

I cried at the end last night, too. Such a sucker for the story! I'M A DERRY GIRL!! 

Spoiler

Erin protecting Chelsea Clinton was PERFECT.
I loved that Orla and James are holding hands at the end - she is such a sweetheart. I thought it was fantastic the way the girls were FLOORED at James' news, and for Michelle to call him out was a nice twist.
Sister Michael telling Jenny to get in on it was great (I also loved her sweater). She's such a great character and well played.

Classic Granda, yelling at Gerry for driving in a circle, when it was all the other aul one's fault.

[cailinoBAC]

15 hours ago, Demian said:

Please tell me the whole "Rock the Boat" thing at the wedding was a joke. I mean, that sort of shit didn't really happen back then, did it?  DID IT?

Ummm I genuinely didn't know until I watched this episode that this was just an Irish thing. I got married 7 years ago and my fb profile picture has myself and my husband on the floor at the front of one of the lines. My brother got married last October and we did it at that too. 

[cailinoBAC]

https://entertainment.ie/tv/tv-news/not-everyone-knows-rock-the-boat-dance-from-derry-girls-394926/

[Aulty]

Derry Girls missing out on the BAFTA yesterday?? What a disgrace.

[Lovecat]

S2 coming to Netflix August 2!!

[morakot]

On 1/5/2019 at 8:31 PM, Cranberry said:

I think Sister Michael is my favorite character; she certainly got a lot of the lines that made me laugh out loud.

She reminds me of the principal at my convent boarding school: Sister Hillary had much of the same attitude.

[greekmom]

Disappointed that it was only 6 episodes.  I loved James showing up with the Dr. Who scarf and that he's into Dr. Who to pick up Erin for the prom.  

James shouting he's a Derry Girl at the end was meh.  

[Danny Franks]

The second season wasn't as focused and sharp as the first season, I thought. More focus on the adults, which makes a certain amount of sense because they were popular characters, but I don't think it worked as well as it should have.

But it was still very funny, particularly the more pointed jabs at sectarianism.

[Brn2bwild]

One thing that stood out: how happy they were that a US President was visiting them.  I wonder when that will happen again.

[MaggieG]

I absolutely love this show. Watched all of the episodes Fri night. There are so many moments that stand out:

• The whole The Usual Suspects subplot and that the parents were all trying to figure out who Keyser Soze was. 
• James picking up Erin in his Dr Who scarf for the prom and her changing into her Easter dress.
• The whole Take That adventure and the fact that Gerry saw them on tv and just smiled and let them enjoy it
• Every scene with Colm and Sister Michael is gold. I laughed like crazy when Sister Michael was reading The Exorcist on the bus and laughing.
• Gerry taking over in the kitchen at the wake had me rolling
• The whole lets find Bill Clinton adventure, only because Grandda had to one up Colm on meeting presidents.

The one thing I guess I had a slight issue with is how they treat James. I know it's supposed to be funny since he is English and a boy, but they all act like he's a giant burden. That's why I thought it was odd Michelle gave him the talk and told him he had to stay I thought "why would he, you guys treat him like crap." But the scene after, when they all looked sad that he was gone, that even seeing Bill Clinton (who they had been waiting for all day) was good. And then when James came back and they basically abandoned Bill and ran to him (Orla jumping into his arms!) was very sweet. I loved seeing them walk off together.

[HeySandyStrange]

23 hours ago, MaggieG said:

The one thing I guess I had a slight issue with is how they treat James. I know it's supposed to be funny since he is English and a boy, but they all act like he's a giant burden. 

They tend to do they same thing with Gerry, too, even though Gerry, like James, is a perfectly nice, normal, person, husband and father. Actually Gerry seemed like the sanest person in the room many times this season, but sometimes I'm waiting for him, and James, to blow up. 

Other then that, I thought the second season was pretty great. I actually liked having more focus on the parents, as they are all very funny and relatable. Mary and Sarah are funny as hell, especially together like at the wedding/wake. I think the show really does a great balancing act with all the characters.

Sister Michael is awesome. That is all.

[Aulty]

1 hour ago, HeySandyStrange said:

Actually Gerry seemed like the sanest person in the room many times this season, but sometimes I'm waiting for him, and James, to blow up.

On my very very long wish list for series 3 is Gerry having a talk with James (possibly surounding him and Erin hooking up, which is also part of that list).

My favourite line involving Gerry was from the first episde: don't say knickers in front of your father, he can't cope. 😂

But James should have realised now that although the girls, especially Michelle, give him a hard time, they really do love him. And to be fair, Michelle's rapport with Claire seems equally though too.

Edited August 6, 2019 by Aulty

[Danny Franks]

58 minutes ago, HeySandyStrange said:

They tend to do they same thing with Gerry, too, even though Gerry, like James, is a perfectly nice, normal, person, husband and father. Actually Gerry seemed like the sanest person in the room many times this season, but sometimes I'm waiting for him, and James, to blow up. 

To be fair, it's only Granda Joe who treats Jerry that way. Mary badgers her kids and acts like a busybody, but I can't think of many times that the show has used the "shrewish wife" trope. She and Gerry seem to have a decent marriage.

Michelle is the meanest, by far, to James. And it's understandable when you consider this is a previously-unknown-to-her cousin who turned up and started living in her house. And even worse, he's English. For Northern Irish Catholic girls raised in the late 80s and early 90s, there can't be too many things less palatable than an English boy. He's the personification of the foreign enemy that rules their lives, and if this show were darker, we might see James being bullied and victimised by a lot of people.

[Wee S]

On 8/5/2019 at 3:39 PM, MaggieG said:

The one thing I guess I had a slight issue with is how they treat James. I know it's supposed to be funny since he is English and a boy, but they all act like he's a giant burden. That's why I thought it was odd Michelle gave him the talk and told him he had to stay I thought "why would he, you guys treat him like crap." But the scene after, when they all looked sad that he was gone, that even seeing Bill Clinton (who they had been waiting for all day) was good. And then when James came back and they basically abandoned Bill and ran to him (Orla jumping into his arms!) was very sweet. I loved seeing them walk off together.

Yeah to start with, it was about being consious of being seen with a 'Brit' ie - not the done thing. But then later on it's more about showing affection towards him - the more you like someone and find them in good standing in your life, the more you slag them off. It's just the way we are over here. We are weird that way, but it's the way we like it.

[hokeypokeyFOIA]

This is right up there with Red Oaks in terms of a series that made me laugh and feel good the whole time. I've already run through both seasons twice because there's so much you can miss due to the accents and different vernacular if you're not paying close attention.

Love Sister Michael & the Father with his own soundtrack clip.

All the clothes, the songs, the hair, it's all terribly genuine. Series 3 here we go.

[TaraS1]

My favorite line of the entire series has to be from Sister Michael to Jenny:  "You will go far in this life.  But you will not be well liked."

Such a great little show.  The acting is a wee bit over the top (to say the least) but I still love every character.

[ExMathMajor]

On 4/10/2019 at 4:46 PM, cailinoBAC said:

https://entertainment.ie/tv/tv-news/not-everyone-knows-rock-the-boat-dance-from-derry-girls-394926/

I'm an American who loves wedding dances (even the dumb ones) and I cannot tell you how tickled I was by this scene! Now I need someone to invite me to an Irish wedding!

[slf]

I have a vague memory of doing Rock the Boat (I'm pretty sure at school) when I was a kid during the mid 90s in Texas so it was a thing here, too.

[Capricasix]

“Who put 50p in the eejit?” Ah hahahaha 🤣🤣 Some terrific one-liners in this show!

[tennisgurl]

I had previously never head of the Rock the Boat dance, but after seeing it here (and falling into a Rock the Boat video deep dive) I must teach it to everyone at every wedding reception I attend!

Season two was just as good as season one, I love this show so much. So many hilarious lines and sequences, and I thought the ending was really sweet. Awww James is a Derry Girl! Everyone, even Michelle, being so heartbroken by him leaving with his crappy mom (even with her amazing eyebrows!) and then so happy when he came back, especially Orla jumping into his arms and them all hugging. 

On 8/12/2019 at 8:32 AM, TaraS1 said:

My favorite line of the entire series has to be from Sister Michael to Jenny:  "You will go far in this life.  But you will not be well liked."

That was so hilarious, I had to stop the episode to laugh! Sister Michael is one of my favorite characters on TV right now.

[Capricasix]

I actually caught myself saying “Fuck-a-doodle-doo” yesterday 😳 Just glad my kids didn’t hear me 🤣🤣

[QueerGirrl]

On 8/5/2019 at 9:39 AM, MaggieG said:

I laughed like crazy when Sister Michael was reading The Exorcist on the bus and laughing.

That was the funniest thing I ever seen in my life!!  I'd love to have drinks with Sister Michael!  

[meep.meep]

I've only seen 3 episodes of this but it is clear that Sister Michael is a real hoot.

[Joe Hellandback]

I have an idea for a TV show, it's called Londonderry Girls, about a group of teenagers who wear crimson blazers, have a sense of class and don't drag my home town's image through th mud! 

[hendersonrocks]

I just finished both seasons and freaking loved it - sass and heart and a hint of the real world troubles (and Troubles) the kids experienced growing up. I might also be biased because I'm about the exact same age they would have been at that time, so the music and fashion and teenage experience really rang true even through I was an ocean away.

Also, Sister Michael is a boss in the best possible way.

[Ohiopirate02]

On 9/28/2019 at 10:15 PM, hendersonrocks said:

I just finished both seasons and freaking loved it - sass and heart and a hint of the real world troubles (and Troubles) the kids experienced growing up. I might also be biased because I'm about the exact same age they would have been at that time, so the music and fashion and teenage experience really rang true even through I was an ocean away.

Also, Sister Michael is a boss in the best possible way.

I spent July 1996 with a group of teens from Derry, and this show takes me back.  I am technically a year or two younger than the characters, there was much discussion of Take That breaking up over that month.  I will say that we listened to a lot of ABBA that summer, so I did not find that Protestants hate ABBA.  And Sister Michael is one of the best characters on TV right now.  

My friends over in Derry love the show.  They feel seen in a way that has not happened before.