We Are The Lucky Ones

The Derry Girls: James, Michelle, Erin, Orla and Clare

Derry Girls is a sitcom from Northern Ireland that, if not for the fact we’re all living in Netflix’s world, we may not otherwise have had the opportunity to enjoy. Set in Derry, Northern Ireland, the show follows teenager Erin, her cousin Orla and friends Clare, Michelle and Michelle’s English cousin James as they come of age during the conflict in Northern Ireland in the 1990s. With smart writing, exceptional acting and its' universal subject matter, Derry Girls is a hidden gem.

With the first series order sitting at just six episodes, creator and writer Lisa McGee has a lot to accomplish in a short amount of time. Lucky for us, McGee is up to the task. McGee employed an interesting narrative tool in the first episode – Orla steals and reads from Erin’s diary – that perhaps may have been worth pursuing, but it is mostly through McGee’s quick, natural dialogue that the Derry girls become fully formed characters. As an example, an exchange between Erin and Clare:

Erin: Any joy with the trust fund? 

Clare: Ah, according to me ma we’re actually quite poor. 

Erin: Ay, I think we are too.

Expertly delivered by Saoirse-Monica Jackson and Nicola Coughlan the exchange is factual rather than self-pitying and it’s far funnier than any conversation between two friends who just learned that their parents do not have trust funds set aside for them to go on educational trips should be. Dry humor your game? Sister Michael’s your girl. As a non-Catholic, I have only stereotypical portraits of nuns, namely Sister Mary Clarence from Sister Act, and Sister Michael fits none of them. If you want compassion, do not talk to her. She literally announces that to the entire school during an assembly.

In an era where some of the most visible teenagers on TV have superpowers, it’s refreshing to see a pack of friends just trying to get by. And despite what goes on around them (totally normal part of the day when a soldier boards and searches the school bus), the Derry girls are typical teenagers. Erin has aspirations of being a writer but is immediately in over her head when she becomes editor of the school newspaper. Orla (Louisa Harland) who may have a slightly too loose grip on reality has found her calling in step aerobics. Clare’s mouth often moves at the speed of light, a reflection of the speed with which the wheels turn in her brain. Michelle (Jamie-Lee O’Donnell) is the edgy, drinking, sex-crazed teen who positively bristles at the inclusion of her English cousin James (Dylan Llewellyn) in her daily life. And then there’s James. The Derry girl of the opposite gender who is admitted into the all-girls school out of fears he would be victimized by his own gender because of his English accent. James, who is refused use of the staff men’s room, literally does not have a pot to piss in at the all girls’ school. The Derry girls’ exploits are not new or unique. They cram for exams, they are forced to get jobs to earn money for the school trip, they have spats and develop crushes on other classmates. These storylines could come across as stale. Instead of feeling derivative, Derry Girls, with it’s unique setting and uncompromising Northern Irish dialect, is a breath of fresh air.

TV series that rise to the top often fall into one of two categories: the familiar and the trasnportive. Derry Girls is the latter. We become part of stories we may never have had a chance to envision before and, through that, learn more about ourselves. It’s hard to imagine you could have as much fun learning as you do learning through Derry Girls. Need more convincing? Flashbacks abound with a fantastic 90s soundtrack.