What: Derry Girls Season 3
Where to watch: Netflix
Premiere date: October 7, 2022
Few shows can take a simple premise and turn it into something spectacular. Derry Girls is one of those few shows. Nay, Derry Girls is the absolute best of those shows, and its third season is finally landing in the U.S.
Set during the end of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Derry Girls follows a tight-knit group of friends, Erin (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), Orla (Louisa Harland), Clare (Nicola Coughlan), Michelle (Jamie-Lee O’Donnell), and James (Dylan Llewellyn), as they navigate high school woes amid political unrest.
A hilariously beautiful and bittersweet testament to teenagehood, the sheer joy of Derry Girls is watching an insanely lovable group of friends figuring out what seems to be both the greatest and worst time of their lives. It’s endearingly nostalgic. It’s a delicious feast of Irish humor. And despite the specificity of its location and time period, it’s all too relatable for anyone who’s been 16.
So if you’re ready to delve into the tiny town of Derry and meet its wonderful residents, here’s everything you need to know about the show.
How can I watch "Derry Girls" Season 3?
The latest season of Derry Girls is streaming on Netflix Oct. 7 — absolute wonderful news for self-proclaimed Derry girls in the U.S. And for all newcomers (or dedicated re-watchers), you can find the first two seasons of the show on Netflix as well.
What exactly was going on in Derry in the '90s?
Time for a very quick history lesson: The Troubles was an era of conflict in Northern Ireland that ran from the late 1960s to the late 1990s and saw a predominantly Protestant majority wanting Northern Ireland to remain within the United Kingdom, and a predominantly Catholic majority wanting to leave it and join a united Ireland instead. It was a turbulent, near-30 years of violence that finally found its end in 1998 with the Good Friday Agreement.
Derry Girls is set in the '90s, particularly from 1994 to 1996 (so far), and its timeline has featured key events from the Troubles’ history, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s visit to Derry in 1995 and the IRA’s ceasefire in 1994. That timeline, as well as overall attitudes toward the English, serve as backdrops for how things unfold, from boy drama all the way to politics.
What have people said about "Derry Girls"?
It's safe to say that anyone that watches this show will love it — a lot.
Mashable features editor Rachel Thompson writes, “The humour of Derry Girls manages to appeal to both local and international audiences — something that's no easy feat. There are hyper-specific inside jokes and sayings that only folks from Northern Ireland will understand. But even if those jokes go over your head, you'll still be bent double from the objectively hilarious writing by the show's creator, Lisa McGee.”
She continues, “Derry Girls manages to capture the signature wit of Northern Irish people without becoming an oversimplified caricature to be reverential to international audiences. When most TV shows and movies about Northern Ireland are essentially trauma porn or bleaker-than-bleak portraits about The Troubles, this show does something different: It's about a group of teenagers finding joy when the world outside is crumbling down around them.”
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