DERRY GIRLS creator Lisa McGee has vowed to continue to write about the “place I come from, the place I love” as she received the freedom of the city. The writer was awarded the freedom of Derry City and Strabane at a ceremony this week. Ms McGee becomes the first woman to receive the council’s highest honour. It is an “honour and a privilege” to be recognised in a city “steeped in story and full of storytellers,” she said.
Legendary film director Martin Scorsese has revealed he is a fan of the popular Irish TV show DERRY GIRLS. The Hollywood legend, 80, made the revelation while speaking at The Economic Club of Chicago annual black tie dinner last month. He was asked what TV show he was currently watching before he told the packed room that he is currently watching the Channel 4 sitcom.
Boyle’s-own Chris O’Dowd stars in the new animated movie SLUMBERLAND, now on Netflix. Joined by a larger-than-life outlaw, a daring young orphan journeys through a land of dreams to find a precious pearl that will grant her greatest wish. For O’Dowd, the film recreates the fun and excitement of our childhood days as he plays the awkward, loner, workaholic bachelor uncle Philip who is suddenly thrust into parenthood after his only brother, a fisherman, gets missing at sea and leaves a daughter, Nemo (played by Marlow Barkley), to the former’s care being the closest living relative.
Now on Amazon Prime, CATHERINE CALLED BIRDY stars Dublin-born actor Andrew Scott. Scott plays Lord Rollo, a man of supreme leisure who dresses like the founding father of medieval comfort. He swans around in silky robes over silkier caftans, lounging his days away on soft, fluffy poufs as he plots ways to marry off his teenage daughter (the titular Birdy, played by Bella Ramsey) to a wealthy suitor.
Sister Michael has ruled the hallways of Our Lady Immaculate with an iron fist throughout DERRY GIRLS. Portrayed by an eye-rolling Siobhán McSweeney, the character commands respect, fear, and lots of laughter. In a new Vulture magazine interview, the Cork-born actress reveals her hopes for the legendary nun’s reputation.
The beloved DERRY GIRLS returns to Netflix today. Season 3 serves as a fitting cap for the hilarious and heartfelt comedy, and concludes with a 45-minute episode set against the backdrop of the Good Friday Agreement of 1998. The series is able to end, pristine and in peak form, before the onset of implausible aging or the inevitable softening of characters that afflicts long-running sitcoms. Like one’s own teenage kicks, it couldn’t go on forever.
Actress Amy Huberman is set to be awarded the prestigious Maureen O’Hara award at the Kerry International Film Festival. This year’s festival will take place from October 20-23 across a series of venues throughout Killarney, Co. Kerry. In 2008, KIFF established the Maureen O’Hara Award in celebration of women who have excelled in film, TV and/or media. This year, the award will go to Huberman.
In SEE HOW THEY RUN, the Irish actor, best known for bringing Jo March to life in Greta Gerwig’s 2019 adaptation of LITTLE WOMEN, plays an ambitious police officer paired with seasoned, yet unorthodox, detective (Sam Rockwell), in a ‘whodunnit’ murder mystery comedy where the scene of the crime is a theatre. The production, directed by THIS COUNTRY‘s Tom George, has a very impressive cast, hence Ronan’s struggle to pick the correct co-star in answer to our trivia questions. Joining Ronan and Rockwell are David Oyelowo, Ruth Wilson, Adrien Brody, Pippa Bennett-Warner, Reece Shearsmith and Harris Dickinson.