Everything We Know So Far About Lisa McGee’s New Comedy, How To Get To Heaven From Belfast

Channel 4 has confirmed that multi-award winning Derry Girls series creator Lisa McGee is back with a brand-new comedy thriller, entitled How To Get To Heaven From Belfast. Here’s everything we know so far.

Lisa McGee’s Brand New Comedy, How To Get To Heaven From Belfast

Derry Girls shaped hole in your heart? You’re not alone. Luckily, Channel 4 has our backs: the channel has confirmed that Lisa McGee is returning with a brand new eight-part series, entitled How To Get To Heaven From Belfast.

Plot

It’s another series about Irish women, according to Channel 4. Instead of school girls, though, How To Get To Heaven From Belfast will centre on three friends in their late thirties who have been friends since school. But now they are leading very different lives: Saoirse is a successful writer with a tendency to self-destruct; Robyn is a sweary, stressed out mother of three boys; and Dara, still living in her teenage bedroom, is a full-time carer of an elderly parent. When the women receive an email informing them of the death of an old classmate they were once very close with, they are drawn back together – and there’s clearly some unfinished business.

Spanning Belfast to rural Donegal, though details are scant, we’re expecting some kind of crime mystery for the women, with Channel 4 calling the series a thriller comedy, and describing it as a ‘dark and twisted mystery’ that is ‘absolutely terrifying’ but also ‘utterly thrilling’. The channel also says the series will explore ‘themes of friendship, memory and what happens when life doesn’t turn out quite how we expected’.

‘I feel so incredibly lucky to be making another show for the phenomenal Channel 4,’ says McGee. ‘And to be doing it with Hat Trick Productions again and the creative team behind Derry Girls, the mighty Liz Lewin and Caroline Leddy, is just a dream. I’ve wanted to make a comedy thriller set in Northern Ireland for such a long time. I cannot wait to share these flawed funny women with everyone.’

 

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After launching on Channel 4 streaming, Derry Girls became the channel’s biggest ever comedy. It went on to become the biggest Northern Ireland series since modern records began in 2002. Charlie Perkins, Head of Comedy at Channel 4, says: ‘This is huge. We couldn’t be prouder that Channel 4 feels like this extraordinary show’s spiritual home. We can’t wait to bring Lisa’s next world to life for all those who already love her work and many more to come.’

‘How To Get To Heaven From Belfast is an extraordinarily rich story which will thrill fans not only of Derry Girls but of lovers of comedy thrillers everywhere,’ adds Jimmy Mulville, Managing Director at Hat Trick Productions.

Release Date

It’s very early days, so there’s no release date just yet. But, if you fancy scratching that Derry Girls itch, you can catch up with all episodes at channel4.com