Derry Girls: Lisa McGee discusses shocking season 3 death
McGee explains the emotional ending to the show
The penultimate episode of Lisa McGeeās third series of Derry Girls aired on Channel 4 tonight (17 May).
Backdropped by the political turmoil of 1990s Northern Ireland, the show features the giddy misadventures of the central five friends.
*Spoilers for episode six below*
But, in the last episode, when Da Gerry (Tommy Tiernan) gets a phone call and arrives unannounced at Derryās Halloween festival, it becomes clear that life will never be the same for Erin, Clare, Michelle, Orla and James.
As episode six begins, itās Halloween and the gang has miraculously secured tickets to the gig of the century: Fatboy Slim, āthe modern-day Beethovenā, headlining at Derryās Halloween festival.
While things seem relatively normal in the land of Derry ā Sister Michael (SiobhĆ”n McSweeney) is strategically renting out her nun uniform and Gerry is clumsily negotiating Sarahās way (Kathy Kiera Clarke) out of an accidental marriage engagement āĀ the girls are busy hustling to secure their ickets.
In a miraculous turn of fate, which involves Michelle finally getting a telly appearance, they are awarded free VIP tickets to see the DJ. For the first time, one of Michelleās far-fetched plots seems to have actually paid off.
Just seconds away from meeting the revered Fatboy Slim, James is threatened by a man āthe size of a wardrobeā. After a whirlwind scene of crutch throwing, scrambling and Clare kissing her crush, the group is thrown out of the venue, missing out on the biggest night of the year.
A solemn Da Gerry is waiting outside, bearing the devastating news that Clareās dad (David Ireland) is in hospital, and itās not looking good. The gang embrace a grieving Clare after itās revealed her dad died from an aneurism.

As the coffin is paraded through the streets of Derry, the episodeās ending is stripped of any witty one-liners to save the mood, which is symbolic for a show that often makes light of typically unfunny subjects.

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Speaking at an exclusive preview at Channel 4 studios, Derry Girls creator and executive producer Lisa McGee revealed that the storyline about Clareās dad is based on an event that happened in her own life growing up in Derry.
āI wanted to do the story as it happened to my group of friends,ā she said. āMy friendās dad died when we were around that age. The thing that really struck me was that we did grow up in a place where a lot of unpredictable stuff would happen, and we were worried about a lot, like the violence.ā
She added: āAnd this was a thing that could happen to anyone, it was a natural causes, and I was like āOh god, nobodyās life is predictableā.ā
āI felt like something shifted in my wee friendship group when that happened,ā said McGee. āI thought I could end it [the series] there because Channel 4 assured me that the special would run close [after], and that wasnāt going to leave everybody really depressed.ā
On Wednesday (18 May), the last ever episode of Derry Girls will air.
Set a year on from the events of episode six, the hour-long special episode takes place on the eve of the Good Friday Agreement referendum.
Derry Girls concludes Wednesday 18 May at 9pm on Channel 4.
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