Derry Girls creator reveals how it inspired her new Netflix show How to Get to Heaven from Belfast
"What would those young girls think of the sort of women we've become?"
With the upcoming release of her new Netflix series, How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, Lisa McGee is crafting a whole new world away from Derry Girls.
While many know the series creator and writer for Derry Girls, it turns out that the hit Channel 4 comedy was actually a point of unlikely inspiration for her new project.
Chatting exclusively to RadioTimes.com about where the idea for How to Get to Heaven from Belfast came from, McGee revealed: "I think like when I was making Derry Girls, I was going to a lot of screenings in Derry with my group of friends who those characters were based on.
"And I just had this idea of – because we were watching ourselves when we were young – I was like, what would those young girls think of the sort of women we've become? Would they be disappointed? Would they be proud?
"And this idea of that gap between your younger self and who you are now was [what] I found really interesting."
She added: "So thematically, that was probably the beginning of it. And then I've always wanted to write a mystery, that's like my favourite genre, but I knew I would have to do it my way, like it would have to be funny, it would probably have to be a gang show, it would have to be a group of women. So, yeah, it was putting all those pieces together, really.”
The new eight-part series centres on a trio of childhood friends Saoirse (Roísín Gallagher), Robyn (Sinéad Keenan) and Dara (Caoilfhionn Dunne), who are catapulted into a major adventure when they receive the news that the fourth member of their teenage friendship group has died. When they go to attend her wake, however, they find out that there's a lot more to this than meets the eye – and so, the mystery begins.
While the series is certainly a glossy, fast-paced and thriller-like addition to McGee's repertoire, at its core, the show is also about these three best friends who are all living very different lives.
It's clear that McGee has a knack for depicting complicated friendship dynamics and honing in on groups for laughs, but what is it about writing these friendship groups that is so special to her?
“I have a similar friendship group, and, you know, watching my mom and family members growing up, I just find them so funny.
"I also, when I was writing Derry Girls, I found this – I didn't see it reflected, the reality of what it was like that much. Because we're a nightmare. We're chaotic and messy and mad, and often get the ones causing the pickles," she tells us.
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"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 get to take that space and when a project’s centred on a woman, they 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!'”
The series also stars the likes of Tom Basden (Here We Go), Art Campion (Blue Lights), Michelle Fairley (Gangs of London), Josh Finan (Waiting for the Out), Bronagh Gallagher (Brassic), Darragh Hand (Heartstopper), Ardal O’Hanlon (Death in Paradise), Natasha O’Keeffe (Peaky Blinders) and Emmett J Scanlan (MobLand), as well as Derry Girls star Saoirse-Monica Jackson.
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How to Get to Heaven from Belfast will be available to stream on Netflix from Thursday 12th February – sign up from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media.
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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.
