The hit TV series Derry Girls was recently recognised among the best at the National Comedy Awards.
The popular TV series Derry Girls, Channel 4’s most successful comedy since Father Ted, was recognised recently as being among the best comedy shows in the UK at the National Comedy Awards.
The Channel 4 ceremony aims to bring together the nation’s best-loved comedy stars. Nominations include much-loved classics and emerging talent alike.
The National Comedy Awards – honouring comedy talent
The National Comedy Awards is a ceremony which will bring together all of the UK’s best-loved comedy stars and comedians.
The awards will honour both established and emerging comedy talent alike, with the public deciding through means of public voting who exactly wins the key awards.
The hit series by Derry woman Lisa McGee has gained an impressive three nominations across some of the most prestigious categories this year. The show goes up against series’ like Ricky Gervais’ After Life and talents like Sharon Horgan and Daisy May Cooper.
Derry Girls storylines – inspired by McGee’s own experience growing up in Derry
Derry Girls, which Lisa McGee wrote, was inspired by her own experiences of growing up in Derry in the 1990s during the final years of The Troubles.
The series stars Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Louisa Harland, Nicola Coughlan, and Dylan Llewellyn.
The five act as teenagers living in mid-1990s Derry while attending Our Lady Immaculate College, a fictional Catholic secondary school for girls. The college is based on the real-life Thornhill College, where McGee herself studied in her youth.
The TV series, which was produced by the British production company Hat Trick Productions, was filmed in Northern Ireland. The majority of scenes were shot on location in Belfast and Derry itself.
The show often used archival footage of important political figures at the time, such as Gerry Adams, Martin McGuinness, Ian Paisley, Mo Mowlam and John Hume, via radio and tv broadcasts in the homes of the characters.
The soundtrack of Derry Girls was also well received as it featured much of the most popular music of the 90s.
Derry Girls – a hit TV series
Lisa McGee’s hit TV series Derry Girls has garnered up to three nominations in some of the most prestigious categories. The show’s production company Hat Trick was the first to lead in celebrating the news.
Posting on social media, they said, “Congrats to Derry Girls who have been shortlisted for 3 National Comedy Awards!”
Writer and creator Lisa McGee said: “I’m at it again. Give Derry Girls a wee vote if you think we deserved it. Alternatively, tell me to shut up if you’re sick listening to me. I’m sick listening to myself, to be honest. Thrilled to be nominated though”.
Derry Girls’ nominations include Best Scripted Comedy, Saoirse-Monica Jackson for Outstanding Comedy Actress and Outstanding Supporting Role for Jamie-Lee O’Donnell and Siobhán McSweeney.
To vote for Derry Girls at the National Comedy Awards, click here.
