If you are judging it as a typical teenage comedy, be prepared to be jostled out of your thoughts. Derry Girls is everything and nothing you’ve ever seen.
Set in the 1990’s in the small of Derry, this class of a coming-of-age comedy presents a group of teens’ daily banters, adventures with guaranteed does of screwups. The ill-timed, not-so-well-thought of situations lead to hilarious outcomes for the teens. The characters are unique, situations aren’t at all drab as you’d imagine a teenage comedy to be, perfectly timed phrases – all set against a dangerous political time of The Troubles.
So if you haven’t wised up and binged this hilarity of a show yet, here’s a few reasons you should watch it.
Relatable teen drama – If you’ve never related to the castle-kind schools shown in teenage drama, Derry Girls is for you. It throws you in a nostalgia of being 16 again, without the backdrop of a private school lavishness. The girls in the show attend a semi moderate Catholic school and have extended families at home. The girls aren’t pesky school divas, the authorities do not favour anyone, their parents need convincing for a pop concert trip to Dublin, they do stay up all night to study and yet magically do not top the class – things we can all relate to.
Learn a whole chunk of Northern Ireland slangs – You’ll have to be quick to pick up your pace of listening because the girls speak like any other Irish people – incredibly fast, with a lot of Irish slangs. You’ll learn “to boke” means to vomit, “doing my head in” means annoying me, “gas” means funny, and “eejit” means an idiot. Watch it for the incredible vocabulary and the typical Irish accent that will get you hooked on.
Array of characters is “gas” – From the loopy Orla to the “wee English fella” James, from the typical controlling mother to brutally honest grandfather, the set of characters, though mildly exaggerated, fit perfectly with the flow. Ever seen a catholic school’s head nun speak out what you’ve been thinking in your head? That’s Sister Michael for you. If every other person falls short of your expectation, Sister Michael with her straight-faced caustic humour will guarantee a nod from you.
Treats the political too: The series opens with Erin’s mother worried about the bombing of a bridge. Her first concern: if the girls can’t go to school, she’ll be stuck in the house with them all day. For people who are conditioned to political unrest, an act of terrorism is as terrible as being stuck in the house with their kids; or missing a Take That concert for a “bomb threat”.
