The final series of Derry Girls (Channel 4) has been a triumph. Rather than resting on its laurels, it pushed itself to new heights. From its celebrity cameos – classy, sparing, and in the last ever episode, it’s fair to say surprising – to its playful decision to mix up genres, each week has been delightful. I loved the episode set almost entirely on a train, the “haunted” house trip, and the school reunion flashback to Sarah and Mary’s youth, movingly dedicated to “all the mammies”, which was so good that fans have been calling for a spinoff series. It is a rare comedy that bows out on a high like this, but Derry Girls has been bold in its victory lap.
It has earned its right, then, to say a protracted farewell with not one but two episodes. The first is a classic caper, fittingly doing what the show does best by getting the gang of five into a scrape then letting them make it far worse for themselves. Fatboy Slim, or Slimboy Fat, depending who you ask, is playing in Derry on Halloween, and the girls (and I do include the wee English fella in this, as is only right and fair) will simply die if they don’t get tickets. The trouble is that a local hardman stands in the way of them and their Rockafeller Skanks.
