Derry Girls (2018) Review: Teen Chaos in the Troubles

Is Derry Girls worth watching?

Yes. Derry Girls is one of the best British comedies of the last decade, a gloriously chaotic teen sitcom that finds huge laughs in adolescence and real feeling in the political conflict around it. Lisa McGee’s scripts are dense with jokes, and the young cast is a flawless comic ensemble. The only reservations are minor: the heavy Northern Irish slang and local references take an episode to tune into, and the occasional farce gets broad.

What is Derry Girls about?

In Derry, Northern Ireland, in the mid-1990s, Erin Quinn (Saoirse-Monica Jackson) is a teenager with big ambitions and a talent for embarrassment. Her inseparable friends are her eccentric cousin Orla (Louisa Harland), anxious rule-follower Clare (Nicola Coughlan) and foul-mouthed Michelle (Jamie-Lee O’Donnell), along with Michelle’s English cousin James (Dylan Llewellyn), who ends up as the only boy at their Catholic girls’ school. Their world is exams, crushes, school trips and family arguments, all unfolding against the backdrop of the Troubles, with army checkpoints, bomb scares and news bulletins part of daily life.

Derry Girls was created and written by Lisa McGee, drawing on her own youth in the city, for Channel 4. It is a British series in English. This review covers the complete show: three seasons and 19 episodes, broadcast between 2018 and 2022, with a story that ends on its own terms.

An ensemble with perfect timing

The show’s energy comes from its five young leads, who play off one another like a well-drilled comedy troupe. Saoirse-Monica Jackson’s elastic face and overconfident delivery make Erin a gift of a lead, while Louisa Harland’s Orla steals scene after scene with her serene strangeness. Nicola Coughlan, later a star of Bridgerton, gives Clare a nervous intensity that constantly tips into hysteria, and Jamie-Lee O’Donnell’s Michelle is a force of mischief. Dylan Llewellyn’s James, a polite English boy lost in a sea of Derry chaos, is the ideal straight man.

The adults are just as funny. Tara Lynne O’Neill and Kathy Kiera Clarke are sisters with very different energies, Tommy Tiernan plays Erin’s put-upon father, and Siobhán McSweeney’s withering headteacher, Sister Michael, became one of the show’s best-loved characters.

Laughter against the backdrop of conflict

McGee’s great achievement is her handling of the Troubles. The political violence is never a punchline, but it is also never allowed to swallow the characters’ lives, which is exactly how many people who grew up there describe it. A bomb scare might delay a school trip, or a checkpoint might interrupt a family drive, and the show treats these things with the same matter-of-factness the characters do. That balance means that when the series chooses to be serious, the moments land with great force.

The 1990s setting is lovingly detailed, from the music to the fashion, and the soundtrack of period hits adds to the nostalgic warmth.

Where the comedy stretches

Derry Girls is at its best when jokes grow out of character and at its weakest when an episode leans too heavily on escalating farce, a pattern that occasionally strains belief. The dense Derry dialect and local references can also be challenging for viewers outside Ireland and the UK, although most adjust quickly. The short seasons mean a few storylines feel rushed, and some fans wished the series had run longer.

Who should watch Derry Girls?

It is ideal for fans of British and Irish comedy, coming-of-age stories and fast-paced ensemble sitcoms, and it works well for older teenagers and adults alike. The full run is only 19 short episodes, so it is an easy binge. The content includes strong language, sexual humour and references to political violence, though nothing graphic. More comedy series and the Channel 4 collection offer plenty in a similar spirit.

Next steps if it makes you laugh:

• Fleabag for another sharply written British comedy that can turn devastating in a moment.
• Gavin & Stacey for warm, family-driven comedy with a strong regional voice.
• Misfits for a rowdier British ensemble of young people behaving badly.

The verdict

Derry Girls is riotously funny, deeply affectionate and quietly profound about growing up in a place where history is always pressing in. A little broadness and some tricky dialect aside, it is one of the most rewarding British comedies of its time.

Rating: 4.5/5