It’s official. Channel 4’s Derry Girls is now the biggest series in Northern Ireland since modern records began in 2002. The nostalgic series depicts the lives of a group of teenagers growing up in the Maiden City in the 1990s amid the Troubles. Consolidated figures have taken account of time-shifted viewing on a television over a seven day period and confirmed the comedy had an average of 519k viewers in Northern Ireland and 64.2% share of the audience.
Not big enough for you? Well, across the UK, consolidated figures reveal that the first series was watched by an average of 2.5 million viewers, making it Channel 4’s biggest comedy launch since 2004.
Creator Lisa McGee 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 (no, Michelle, not that sort of 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, Channel 4’s head of comedy said: “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.”
Unsurprisingly a second series was announced last month.
