I was
majorly over-excited when I saw the trailer for Derry Girls, an upcoming comedy
set in my home town. But why?
I think the
first thing is definitely the accent. I left Derry when I was 18 and I have
lived in a few places in the South East of England, and now the South West, yet
everywhere I go I seem to be ‘the only Irish in the village’, and definitely
the only Derry girl (which statistically can’t be true). I’m still referred to
as the Irish one and I think it is largely due to my fairly undiminished accent
– as they say, ‘you can take the girl out of Derry but you can’t take the Derry
out of the girl’. So for me, it’s lovely to sit listening to others who sound
like me, even if it is only for half an hour.
Then of
course, there are the Derryisms. I follow the local paper on social media (The
Derry Journal) and I’ve been enjoying their associated articles – especially the
vocabulary list. I read it out to my (English) husband in laughter at all the
things we used to say and how weird it was to never use them again because no-one
at university understood me. For goodness sake, they had enough trouble with my
name!
The most relatable
things have to be the Convent school and the backdrop of the Troubles. In fact,
I’m quite convinced that the school scenes may actually be filmed at my old
school, sitting disused as it is, across the road from it’s massive successor.
I wore a similar dark green uniform and travelled on the cream and yellow bus
(though, cleverly for the writer, this also applies to other girls’ schools in
town). I even sat outside the Head Nun’s office (Mother Superior, as she was
known to us) with three other girls and was threatened with expulsion -not for
hitting anyone, mind, but for refusing to play our brass instruments from
another band in the school orchestra.
I love that
the Troubles are a ‘backdrop’ to everyday life. I’ve spent years trying to explain
to people that I lived a very ordinary life just in less than ordinary
circumstances. It’s something I’ve been drawn to write about many times, but
something that a lot of people still don’t want to hear. My current novel is
set between Derry and Cape Town and one agent’s rejection said that it wouldn’t
matter how brilliant the plot or how fabulous the characters, she wouldn’t
touch anything set in Northern Ireland. I’m sure she has her reasons.
So I think
it is wonderful that Lisa McGee has got her voice and our voices onto mainstream
TV. Here’s to us Derry Girls!
PS Where’s
my trust fund??
