Derry Girls fans around the world were devastated to learn that season 3 would be its last. However, it looks like it will definitely be going out on a high, rather than sticking around past its best, dragging its feet until a disappointing finale. And Tara Lynne O’Neill, who plays Erin’s mother Mary, promises that the beloved comedy series will end “beautifully.”
It’s the end of an era as the Derry Girls (and Derry Boy Dylan) are taking their exams and leaving school. It’s also a time of change for Northern Ireland, with the start of the peace process (which led up to the Good Friday Agreement being signed in 1998).
O’Neill says; “Well, it’s just so timely: we’re in an era where we’re talking about the Good Friday Agreement again, and she (writer Lisa McGee) has handled it so beautifully. You know, I was a teenager at the time and it was life-changing for us, so to watch it on the screen and see it depicted both through the family but also the kids, it’s perfect. Remembering that we’re at peace now, and this helped, and this worked. It’s just so delicate, how she handles it. It’s beautiful.
O’Neill says that filming the last scenes were emotional for everyone; “even the crew were crying, which was really beautiful. I’ve never worked on something where the crew was also sad to say goodbye.” And of the global success of the show, she says; “I had no idea that someone in Mexico would see something that resembles them or their family. It’s got followers all over the world.”
She continues; “The girl (Keala Settle) that plays the bearded lady in The Greatest Showman did a Tik Tok where she mimed to a whole scene as Michelle. I very nearly died! That was pretty outstanding.”
If you’re looking forward to new seasons of more Netflix shows, check out our guides to The Umbrella Academy season 3, and Stranger Things season 4.