How to Get to Heaven from Belfast cast on how "shared trauma" unfolds in new mystery series
How to Get to Heaven from Belfast centres on a group of friends – who are faced with a lot more than they bargained for.

The new comedy-drama from Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee, How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, is sure to be a treat for a lot of viewers – but while the central mystery might seem like the main focus, the trio of lead characters are all battling their own demons too.
Saoirse (Roísín Gallagher), Robyn (Sinéad Keenan) and Dara (Caoilfhionn Dunne) start to realise that not everything is quite as it seems when they're told that their childhood friend has died, beginning an adventure across Ireland that'll bring up memories of the past and force them to confront some of their own personal problems.
But what emotional journey do we go on with these characters, especially as it seems like each of them have a lot going on in their own lives prior to embarking on this search for the truth?
We posed that question to the cast, and chatting exclusively to Radio Times, Gallagher said of the central trio: "They're totally avoiding what's really going on in their real lives.
"Lisa had said something that really stayed with me at the very beginning about these girls – they can't move on with their life until they reflect back on what's happened, or find out the real truth of what happened back then.
"And I think that's definitely true for Saoirse, in the sense that she is just on this hamster wheel – [like] a lot of women, coming up to their forties and juggling a lot of different things, feeling maybe a bit stretched and not really quite knowing where the next right move is, like how to make the next right move."

Gallagher added: "Because everything happens so fast, and certainly for Saoirse, that's what's going on. She's not quite holding on, she doesn't really have a grip on what's going on, and she's doing things like getting married, but I would question if that's the right thing for her.
"I would question if she's really thought that through, particularly because she keeps forgetting to put her engagement ring on – out of sight, out of mind with that. So that's really funny to play as well.”
Read more:
- Derry Girls creator reveals how it inspired her new Netflix show How to Get to Heaven from Belfast
- Derry Girls creator talks new Netflix show How to Get to Heaven from Belfast: "You can't separate us from what's happened here"
As for Robyn, Unforgotten star Keenan said: “I think Robyn, certainly initially, or from the outside in, if you didn't know her the way the girls know her, you'd think, well, she has the perfect life. She's got a beautiful house, lovely husband, three lovely, feral kids, but there's something missing for her.
"Lisa had said to me that she did want to grow up and marry well and have a big house - but there's still something missing. She's not quite fulfilled. They're bonded, the three of them, by this shared bad experience, shared trauma.”
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Speaking of Dara's journey in the series, Dunne also revealed: “Dara kind of gets forced, in a good way, to hear a lot of uncomfortable truths over the course of this from the only people who could tell her – how stuck she is in her life. She’s forced to step outside the safety and the security of the little home she's made for herself and annoying her mother.
"I don't know how far it will get her post this story in season 2, but you can start to see it happening. They're just a bit more brave, just a bit more open. But I think she needed these people to come back into her life in this way, because they are the only people who could tell her.”
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How to Get to Heaven from Belfast is available to stream on Netflix.
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Authors

Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.





