Goodbye girls, it’s been a blast!

DERRY GIRLS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY, CHANNEL 4

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There’s nothing worse than a show that drags on past its sell-by date. No chance of that for writer Lisa Mcgee’s Derry Girls, which went out not so much with a bang as a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows – and a roster of celebrity cameos including, of all people, Chelsea Clinton. Fans in high places, eh?

The show is supposedly Channel 4’s most successful comedy since Father Ted – and in many ways it’s very similar. Not just because of the presence of Ardal O’hanlon (he joined in series two), but also because it has that wonderful combination of honesty

It doesn’t matter how bonkers the plots, you have to smile

and dark humour that means it doesn’t really matter how bonkers or implausible the plotlines, it’s impossible not to find yourself smiling.

It just has – had – bags of charm, despite the often distinctly un-charming behaviour – and language – of its characters. And you end up feeling so much affection for those characters, even the most annoying ones, such as Colm, who could bore the pants off a nun, or the least appealing, Sister Michael (now revealed to be Sister George Michael), thunderous head of Our Lady Immaculate College.

In case you haven’t seen it, a quick re-cap: Erin, Orla, Clare, Michelle and honorary girl James (above) are five teenagers growing up in mid-90s

Talking of shows that go on past their sell-by date, it’s hard to believe that Location, Location, Location (Wednesday, Channel 4) has been on air for over 20 years (since May 2000). Indeed, as Kirstie (Allsopp) might say to Phil (Spencer), some people get less for murder. But although it’s now in its three millionth series (or thereabouts), there is something about this eternal quest for that dream home that still resonates, perhaps even more so at a time of housing crisis. In this first episode, Phil and Kirstie were tasked with finding two bedrooms and some decent entertaining space for £165,000. Next they’ll be feeding the 5,000.

Derry. They’re melodramatic and wild and very stupid (as all teenagers are). And they have quite a few challenges to overcome, hamstrung by a cast of more-or-less flawed adults and, of course, the volatile political situation. It’s essentially a coming-ofage comedy, only set against the distinctly unfunny backdrop of the Troubles. A tricky one on paper, perhaps, but in the hands of the cast, comedy gold. And it’s partly that tension that gives the show its edge, that sense that surrounded by so much death the only thing to do is live life to the full. It’s an ‘if-you-don’t-laugh-you’ll-justend-up-crying’ situation. Hair disasters, make-up, pop concerts – all these things matter no less, despite the constant threat of violence. In fact, if anything, they matter more.

The final episodes cleverly brought all these strands together in a sweet, sentimental farewell to everyone. Following the death of her father (a classic mix of the tragic and the absurd, as the girls find themselves dressed as angels at a Fatboy Slim concert when they hear the news), Clare (Nicola Coughlan) has moved away. The group is disorientated, not least by turning 18 and being given – for the first time – the chance to vote, and not

just any vote: the referendum on the Good Friday Agreement. There are tantrums, fallings-out, strong words. Many certainties are questioned, from friendships to faith.

Amid it all, though, some real laughs, and that trademark Derry Girls subversion, such as the atrocious dramatic interpretation of the choices facing the nation by some of the children at Lady Immaculate. ‘The Troubles have caused so many atrocities,’ quips Sister George Michael after the performance, ‘to which we must now add that awful play.’

All good things must come to an end, and Derry Girls was damn good. It’s been a blast!