Everything that happened in Derry Girls season two
And everything else you need to know about the second season
Northern Ireland-based hit comedy Derry Girls earned itself quite the following ever since it first hit our screens back in 2018. It's safe to say that the first series was an immediate hit and much to the delight of fans, there was not long to wait until season two!
The show features the exploits of Erin (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), her cousin Orla (Louisa Harland) and their friends Clare (Nicola Coughlan), Michelle (Jamie-Lee O'Donnell) and English cousin, James (Dylan Llewellyn), as they navigate their teens in Derry during the Troubles in the 90s - and features a stellar cast. Here's our recap of what happened in series two, and everything you need to know.
When was Derry Girls series two on TV?
The show aired on Channel 4 on Tuesday 5 March 2019 at 9.15pm.
What happened in the second series of Derry Girls?
Lisa McGee remained tight-lipped ahead of the show's release, but she told us that she was “toying” with covering the ceasefire and how it “unsettled people” as well as Bill Clinton’s 1995 visit to Derry. Lisa also promised that the show was to return "Bigger, better and more Derry-er" and revealed she’d like one of the girls to get a boyfriend – or for Clare to have a girlfriend – and for James to join a band.
She said: "There are things that everyone, no matter if you are Irish or not, can identify with. We get out and about a bit more, we see a bit more of Northern Ireland and that sort of thing," adding that the theme was always to make people laugh and have a good time.
The official synopsis for season two reads: "The Girls are back. And while series one saw our gang navigating parents, parties, love interests and school against a back drop of The Troubles, series two sees them navigating parents, parties, love interests and school against the backdrop of a precarious peace process.
"Northern Ireland is growing up - the gang certainly aren't. And peace throws up its own challenges – like how to persuade your parents to let you go to a reconciliation concert in the den of iniquity that is Belfast (“you might as well sell the wains into white slavery!”) or how to hunt down Bill Clinton’s “Base Camp” when he visits Derry.
"But it’s not just peace stressing our gang out – there’s protestant boys, an exciting new teacher, a wedding, a prom, an exotic new classmate and that's not even the half of it. Life is just one problem after another..."
Series two recap:
WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW
Series two of Derry Girls began with the students of Our Lady Immaculate attending a Friends Across the Barricade initiative with students from a Protestant boys' school - with Erin and Michelle on the search for a romantic encounter. However, drama ensues after a brawl breaks out following an abseiling activity.
A new English teacher named Ms De Brún joins the school, proving to be popular with Erin and her group of friends. Meanwhile, Mary and Gerry's plan for a romantic cinema date night went awry after Sarah, Ciaran, Joe and Colm decided to join them, and the cinema was later evacuated after a security alert.
Ms De Brún later leaves the school, but after Erin and her friends wrongly think she was fired, they steal the statue from the school in protest - accidentally breaking off its head and sticking it back on the wrong way round. However, the friends then learn that Ms De Brún chose to leave for a better job, and are also suspended for a week.
The group of friends are then looking forward to going to see Take That in Belfast, but their parents don't want them to go due to reports of a polar bear having escaped from Belfast Zoo. The pals decide to sneak out and go to Belfast, as Michelle takes a case full of vodka with them. However, Sister Michael also gets on their bus, so they pretend the case isn't theirs and that they are on a history project trip. After the case is destroyed due to concern about unattended baggage, the friends get a lift from someone who wants to sell knock-off merch at the show.
When the parents realise that the teens all lied to go to the concert, Gerry sees them in the audience on TV, but doesn't tell anyone. Sarah causes drama when she wears a white dress to a family wedding, with Clare, Michelle and James going to the reception as Erin's guests.
Jenny organises a 1950s-themed prom for the students, with Erin choosing to invite her crush, John Paul. Meanwhile, Clare is asked to the prom by a new student called Mae. When John Paul doesn't show up, Mary calls James, who comes and takes Erin to prom.
With President Bill Clinton set to visit Derry, the friends write to his daughter Chelsea Clinton in the hope of spending the day with her. Meanwhile, James' mother Cathy comes to Derry, and he then tells the rest of the group that he is going to leave and go to London with her. Michelle tells James that his mother will only let him down, and that he is a true 'Derry Girl'. Orla then spots James shouting "I am a Derry Girl!" on the walls, so the friends run to him as they realise he has decided not to leave.
You can also watch these best bits! WARNING: THE BELOW VIDEOS CONTAIN EXPLICIT LANGUAGE.
WATCH: Derry Girls | Best Bits of Series 2 | Part 1
WATCH: Derry Girls | Best Bits of Series 2 | Part 2
Lisa McGee spoke about the second series ahead of it airing, saying: "It is a bit more hopeful but the girls are still a disaster. Maybe the scale of what they are getting up to is a bit bigger, we have tried to push it a bit and add a bit more ambition about it this series.
"The antics are a bit bigger and better and we get out and about a bit more, we see a bit more of Northern Ireland and that sort of thing. There is something universal about being a teenager and that sort of selfishness, that self-centredness, everybody can remember being like that, when all things were the biggest dramas ever."
She added: "The family dynamic too. Everybody understands how, when you were young, feeling like everything your mum and dad said was unfair. There are things that everyone, no matter if you are Irish or not, can identify with. Those sort of darker times have to co-exist with the lighter times as well, we try to always be truthful about that."
Lisa continued: "It is definitely bigger and braver, we had an absolute ball filming it. It was a different experience this time round, we know each other so well and we know our characters so well, so it was a lot more enjoyable in that sense. It is always a great job to do when it is comedy because you are just laughing all the time."
Is there a Derry Girls trailer for series two?
Channel 4 released the trailer for the show's eagerly-anticipated return in February 2019. Since season one ended, fans had been dying to catch a glimpse of the second instalment... Erin, Orla, Clare, Michelle, James, their families and arch nemesis Sister Michael all returned for season two.
Is Derry Girls on Netflix?
Yes! All three series of Derry Girls are available to watch on Netflix. You can also watch the show on Channel 4's streaming service.
How many viewers did Derry Girls season one have?
The comedy, set in the early nineties during The Troubles, averaged with 519k and 64.2% share of the audience. It reached 54% of the Northern Irish audience, including 65% of 16-34 year old viewers.
Across the UK, viewing figures reveal that season one of Derry Girls was watched by an average of 2.5 million viewers, making it Channel 4's biggest comedy since 2004 and Northern Ireland's most-watched TV show in 16 years.
Lisa McGee, the creator and writer, said: "Derry Girls is a project very dear to my heart and I’m delighted that so many people have joined us for the ride. It’s particularly special to me that the Northern Irish audience has supported it in the way that they have – I’ve been blown away by the response to the series and am so excited that we get to do it all again with the second series."
Fiona McDermott, Head of Comedy said: "We are beyond thrilled that not only is Derry Girls our biggest comedy launch series since 2004, but that it is the biggest series ever to air in Northern Ireland! This level of popularity is proof positive that Lisa’s crafted not only a proper gem of a comedy but also one which is run through with authenticity and relatability."
Was there a Derry Girls season three?
Yes! Series three of Derry Girls aired in April 2022. It was the final series of the much-loved show.
Who are the Derry Girls actors?
Saoirse-Monica Jackson as Erin Quinn
Saoirse-Monica said of her character: "Erin is selfish, self-righteous, self-absorbed. She would do anything for herself, she would throw one of her friends under the bus. She's really out for herself as selfish teenagers are.
"She's ambitious, she wants to be a writer, she wants to move away, but in reality she's so much more naïve than she pretends to be. She pretends to be really worldly, and she has such romantic ideas of herself. But her friends are always there to remind her that they're completely untrue."
Louisa Harland as Orla McCool
Louisa said of Orla: "I would describe her as being very free. She has no inhibitions. She doesn't stop herself from thinking. She doesn't judge herself or others and I think she's a really lovely character."
Nicola Coughlan as Clare Devlin
Nicola opened up about Clare: "I always think of her as a bit of a Machiavellian genius. Lisa said she wanted to give her a really sensible first name, with a surname that implied she had the devil in her. Because she's a geek, but she's not a nice geek. She'd happily sell her friends down the river if she needed to.
"She's quite ambitious. I've met the real-life girl Clare was based on. It was such a bizarre experience. In this job, you meet a lot of people off the television, and famous people, but I was way more star-struck meeting the real, actual Clare than I was meeting any of those other people. I think she's got a lot of good intentions – I think Clare and Erin think they're the really moral, high-ground-based people, when in fact the other three are a lot more morally sound. But at the same time, I think Clare has a lot of love for her friends – it's always fun to see the dynamic between Clare and Michelle, because they'd never be friends if it wasn't for Erin."
Jamie-Lee O'Donnell as Michelle Mallon
Jamie-Lee says of Michelle: "Michelle really thinks she's maybe just a bit too big for the place she was born in and she's ready to take on the world one swearword at a time. She's really feisty, really ballsy, doesn't really care about authority, just sort of up for anything and up for a laugh."
Dylan Llewellyn as James Maguire
Dylan said of his character: "James is 'the wee English fella'. His mum is from Derry, and she went over to England to have an abortion, but didn't go ahead with it, so James is born, and grows up in England. Then his mum and him go back to Derry, where she just abandons him with his cousin and aunt. From then on, it's all an uphill struggle for him, because he's put in the all-girls school, as they're scared he's going to get beaten up in the boys' school, for being English. That's pretty much it, really."
Siobhán McSweeney as Sister Michael
Siobhán spoke to Independent.ie about her character in March 2019: "I think what I personally like about Sister Michael is what people are picking up on as well, which is her complete 'doesn't give a damn' attitude, her utter freedom. For me, when I think about her being a nun, I think only about the freedom it gives her. She's not restricted by social norms, she doesn't have to behave in a certain way. It's the freedom the uniform has given her to an extent. She is our id in a way, what we always wish we could say but cannot say. That is a gift."
Tara Lynne O'Neill as Ma (Mary)
Tara Lynne spoke about her character to the Belfast Telegraph: "The bits of truth Lisa has got in there that she obviously exaggerates or explores, I think that's why people are relating to it, and there's that essence of truth that we all remember. It reminds me so much of myself - it's totally the same. The soundtrack is my youth. Every song I can tell you where I was and what I was doing when that was playing. All these people in their 40s are watching it and saying 'I remember that, I remember this at the disco'. It's a great memory for everyone."
Tommy Tiernan as Da (Gerry)
Tommy spoke to YM Liverpool in January 2020 about joining the show: "I read the script and it made me laugh. It was as easy and ordinary as that. Gerry was originally written to be from the north (of Ireland), but I'm not brilliant at sustaining accents to a believable degree. I can do them for a minute or so but not over the course of a series. So I said to Channel 4, 'if you put a Southerner in that situation, it gives you good comic scope'. It's another reason for the grandad to hate the dad."
Ian McElhinney as Granda Joe
Game of Thrones star Ian said of working on the show: "He has some great put-downs for Gerry. There's been some great one-liners and I'm delighted to have them. Tommy is a fantastic sparring partner on set - I'd never met him before or seen his stand-up shows, and he's a lovely fella, so it was really nice to work together."
Kathy Kiera Clarke as Aunt Sarah
Kathy Kiera spoke about filming in August 2019 to Irish News, saying: "If I'm filming, I could be up as early as 4.15am for a shower and then out the door. Aunt Sarah is first into make-up. Obviously!" adding of her lunch times whilst filming, "On set, it will be the full works, with dessert, even if I have to squeeze into another unforgiving, skin-tight number favoured by Aunt Sarah!"
Leah O'Rourke as Jenny Joyce
Leah told Hello! magazine in April 2019 about working on the show: "I went to an all-girls Catholic school and we had two nuns working in it - one nun was very very scary and was intimidating and had some qualities of Sister Michael. It was so similar. I think when I first got the script I really related to it and I found that probably helped me in the audition because I felt I had experienced something similar."
Now read:
Derry Girls: Everything you need to know about the Northern Irish comedy
Everything you need to know about actress Jamie-Lee O'Donnell
Everything you need to know about the wonderful Nicola Coughlan