Derry Girls

Derry Girls is a series released in 2018, produced by Channel 4 and Netflix. It is a squeaky, offbeat series set against the backdrop of Northern Ireland in the 1990s, then in the midst of conflict. It tells the story of the more than ordinary and out-of-date daily life of 5 teenagers in Derry, Northern Ireland, a city in the midst of civil conflict, pitting (to put it simply) Irish Republicans against British Loyalists, in 20-minute episodes. An irreverent comedy that has won over thousands of viewers!

Watch the series Derry Girls

A fine and quirky series, which has won many awards!

Don’t try to compare Derry Girls to a similar series. Because Derry Girls is a real UFO, with a tasty and surprising tone. It tells the life of 4 catholic high school girls:

• Erin,
• Orla,
• Clare
• and Michelle

In addition, there is James, the only boy in the gang and Michelle’s English cousin. Often mocked by his 4 Irish friends who reproach him for his so British side, he is one of the comic elements that adds extra spice to the program. Thus, you will discover that he is the only boy from Derry to go to a girls’ high school, the latter fearing for his safety as a British in a boys’ high school (you get the idea…).

All dressed in traditional green school uniforms, these characters face many comic adventures and springs. Their preoccupations are 100% superficial, set in a city of Derry torn apart and exposed to daily violence.

And it is there that the genius of the series is revealed: all the magic operates by a clever contrast between the frivolity of its young people, and the harshness of the Northern Irish conflict. Thus, you’ll discover how these pimply teenagers are much busier with their stories, flirtations, dirty tricks and other parties than with the attacks taking place around them.

The characters are endearing, ultra-caricatural, with always the right word to make the spectator smile behind his TV. The punchlines are a real treat, all in finesse and cynicism, all served with a tasty Irish accent (prefer the subtitled version: it’s worth the detour!).

So forget the idea of attending a usual high school soap. Derry Girls is a much finer and more interesting show, which is not limited to tell the teenage triviality to Gossip Girl..

You will witness scenes of great violence, surprisingly ignored by the teenagers: the armed troops searching their school bus without the girls interrupting in their frivolous discussions, the explosion of the Derry Bridge that annoys only because it will create traffic jams in the city… The contrast is striking, and brilliantly demonstrates that whatever the context, a teenager remains a teenager, with his problems, his dreams and his aspirations.