THE first episode of the third and final season of Derry Girls premiered on Tuesday. The smash-hit Channel 4 sitcom has become a firm pop-culture icon, acquiring a massive global audience. But how is it that a TV show so imbued with the quirks and history of this small corner of the world struck such a chord?
Its impact could be seen in every corner of Derry ahead of its red-carpet premiere at the city's Omniplex last week.
Beyond the famous mural on the side of Badger's Bar, the city now offers Derry Girls walking tours and themed ciders at the Walled City Brewery. From the Spanish tourists taking pictures outside the 'You're a Derry Girl Now' installation at the Guildhall to the locals of all ages clutching copies of Smash Hits magazine (which was resurrected with a Derry Girls theme for the premiere), it was clear that those in the city and beyond look on the series with deep affection.
Speaking to The Irish News at the launch, creator Lisa McGee said: "I think it's quite universal because everybody has an annoying mum, or you know a nerdy best friend, or a boring uncle or that girl in school that they just can't stand. People connected to that."
Derry Girls is, at its heart, a comedy about four teenage girls in the '90s trying to learn to be adults while conflict rages around them. On the nostalgia the series has evoked, McGee says, "I think it's to do with when people become proper adults, they look back. So, it was like the '60s for a while and the '70s for a while, the '80s and now, I guess my generation's the adults and it's really scary. And the '90s was when we were teenagers.
"So you want to go back to simpler times and you know, it's all rose-tinted glasses a wee bit isn't it?"
Derry Girls' brand of humour is wry, no-nonsense and relatable. The salt-of-the-earth nature of the show was evident at the premiere. McGee wore a '90s inspired gold necklace that spelled out 'Derry Girls'. Saoirse-Monica Jackson, who plays its main character Erin, briefly interrupted an interview to hug her granny on the red carpet.
Jackson recalled the moment she realised the show would be a success. "When it first aired, I was doing a play in the West End in London and I got the tube to the centre of London that day," she recalled.
"I got off the tube in Oxford Circus and these three businessmen came running out of Pret, and they came running over to me. They were like, 'Oh my god, are you the girl from Derry Girls?'
"And I knew if three bald men watched the show, it was a big hit."
At the after-screening Q&A, which was held in the Guildhall, McGee made a very simple observation: "People like laughing - especially now."
Following that, the first question from the crowd happened to be from the city's mayor, Graham Warke, who asked, "It's the end of Derry Girls. What about Derry Boys now?"
The goody bags handed out at the end of the launch included both northern and southern Tayto, Cidona, a 'Friends Across the Barricades' T-shirt from season two and pick'n'mix - all very much in keeping with the tone of the show: something for everyone, down-to-earth and very Derry.
The show has gone out the same way it came in: with integrity, warmth and that same irreverent humour that it's always had since episode one.
