Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee says filming season three was a ‘nightmare’ due to Covid and schedule issues - but confirmed Nicola Coughlan will still be a ‘vital’ part of the show.
It comes after the fan favourite star, best known as Clare Devlin in the Channel 4 sitcom said she was ‘devastated’ as she told how she was ‘written out’ of parts of the show due to a filming clash with Bridgerton.
Responding to the comments ahead of the premiere screening of the third and final season, writer Lisa told us: “She kind of is in all the episodes.
Read More: Exciting yet emotional scenes as Derry Girls stars 'say goodbye' to hit show
“You know, I think when Covid happened, we kind of had to juggle things around. It was a bit of a nightmare.
“I had three versions of the show in my head at one time.
“They are probably still there running around somewhere. I was balancing all these versions because Covid threw everything into chaos. But every production had its own nightmare. But we survived it and we are here.”
"But I was very careful with how we used Nicola’s time,” she added, “because she is such a vital part of the show.”
“She is a Derry Girl,” she went on, and insisted that fans will not be disappointed when they see her in action in the show.
“I think we really pulled it off and I don’t think people will be disappointed. She is incredible in it, she is so funny.
“So once you see it, you will know what I mean.”
It was a bittersweet night on the red carpet last night for the mastermind behind the global hit, as she stepped out in her hometown, which inspired the comedy, to debut the third and final season amongst family, friends and fans.
Eager to gauge the first reaction to the series, described as her ‘love letter to Derry’ as press and guests attended the first premiere screening of the new season in the city’s Omniplex cinema, Lisa admitted: “I am nervous, but I want people to see it and I want to see their reaction. We have been looking at it in dark rooms for so long, so we need that audience to judge it.”
But soon joined by her proud mum on the carpet, who was wearing a matching necklace as her etched ‘Derry Girl’, the acclaimed comedy writer quipped: “I was nervous until my mom joined me on the red carpet and started interrupting interviews.”
The mother-of-two went on to gush over the stars of the show that walked the carpet behind her, including Saoirse Monica Jackson, who plays protagonist Erin, and Jamie Lee O’Donnell, who plays sharp tongued teen Michelle, and admitted she can’t help but feel like a proud mother herself watching how much they have accomplished since the show began.
“We remember their first auditions and we have been through this thing together, and it has changed everybody’s lives.
She told Irish Daily Mirror: “They are all so talented. We were very lucky to find young actors like them and they are all going to go on to do great things. It is weird, I feel a bit like their mum”.
It has been five years since Erin, Clare, Michelle, Orla and “the wee English fella” James exploded onto our screens in their school uniforms, tormenting their principal Sister Michael, played by Siobhan McSweeney, as they navigated student life at Our Lady Immaculate College.
They have since gone on to become local legends, forever immortalised by a famous mural in the heart of the city.
And much to Lisa’s disbelief, the show, which is also on Netflix, has also gone on to become a major global sensation, with tourists now travelling from near and far to step inside the walls of the city and walk the steep streets made so famous by the coming of age tale, set during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.
Reflecting on the series’ huge success, after experiencing one of her biggest ‘pinch me moments’ when the show was even mentioned in The Simpsons, the modest writer said: “I can’t still can’t quite believe it and I don’t know how it happened.
“It is amazing. I wonder how some of the fans of the show understand it, but isn’t it brilliant that they do.”
She went on to explain how life changing it has been for everyone involved, adding: “I was always writing, but this has opened so many doors that I never thought were possible. It is kind of crazy.”
With season three set to mark the end of the hit series, fans are holding out hope for some movie magic to follow.
But with a brand new comedy series, and a new thriller up her sleeve, alongside her screenwriter husband Tobias Beer, Lisa said ‘never say never’.
However, she added: “It is not going to happen anytime soon.
“I need to lie down and stop writing.
“We have other shows that we need to move onto now. But you can never say never with this stuff.”
The first of the six episodes of the hit show will be screened on TV on Channel 4 next Tuesday, April 12, 2022 at 9.15pm.
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