Derry Girls creator compares "intense pressure" of writing series finale to new show's "refreshing" ending

For many, Derry Girls continues to be an expertly crafted comedy, but for series creator and writer Lisa McGee, crafting that season 3 finale was one that also came with a lot of pressure.

McGee has spoken previously about ending the series when she did and also, more recently, spoke of becoming an unlikely spokesperson for political commentary during that period of writing Derry Girls.

In an interview with The I Paper, McGee said: "You can get swept up in the idea: oh maybe I should have something to say. But I don’t have anything to say. I mean, I said what I have to say in the show. It was stressful, writing that last episode. But I’m very proud of it."

So, how did writing the final episode of How to Get to Heaven from Belfast compare to writing that fateful final instalment of Derry Girls? Chatting exclusively to Radio Times about just that, McGee remarked: "A lot less pressure! Like craft-wise, intense because there's a lot of things that need tied up, you need to find an emotional punch."

She said: "I wanted to do something that has... Could there be a God nearly? Something like that, because of the title and those elements to the story. So, there was a lot going on. There was a lot of craftsmanship, that was hard but I find that cool and challenging and I like attempting to rise to that, even if it might not always."

As for reflecting on the Derry Girls finale, McGee said: "The Derry Girls stuff was about something else that was really stressful and it was about if this doesn't represent this time, or how people feel – it was hugely emotional that last episode. I remember saying to [producers] Liz [Lewin] and Caroline [Leddy], who work on Heaven as well, I have this idea for the last episode of Derry Girls but I'm hoping you're going to say, 'don't do it'.

"And I told them, and they went, 'No, you're going to have to, we love it. You're going to have to do it'. And it was like, I really, really was praying they’d go, 'No, just do something light and fun, don't do the Good Friday Agreement’. But I'm glad I did it.

"But yeah, it’s very different. Derry Girls wasn't technically as hard to write that [final] episode, but it was like being just wrung out emotionally. It was mad. And even going through the footage, the actual footage of stuff that had happened … and then trying to still keep it light and hopeful. So this was just really refreshing in that it just was telling a story."

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McGee's new series doesn't venture into Good Friday Agreement territory but does include plenty of Northern Irish craic and twists. Following Saoirse (Roísín Gallagher), Robyn (Sinéad Keenan) and Dara (Caoilfhionn Dunne) who reunite for their friend Greta's (Natasha O’Keeffe) wake, the series takes a twist as the trio are plummeted into a cross-country adventure as they struggle to make sense of the truth.

While the series is very much about the perplexing mystery at the heart of it, it's also about those hilarious friendship dynamics that are relatable.

"When I was writing Derry Girls, I found this - I didn't see it reflected, the reality of what it was like that much," McGee told Radio Times.

"Because we're a nightmare. We're chaotic and messy and mad, and often get the ones causing the pickles. And I think that grey area that, like that flawed character stuff, is the most interesting. And a lot of the times it's the men that gets to take that, that space and when a project’s centred on a woman, that could be really amazing projects, but they're often very serious topics, subject matter. So I just think, oh no. But we want to have the craic too. We want to go on adventures too."

How to Get to Heaven from Belfast is available to stream on Netflix.

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