Fans of Derry Girls have had a long wait for new episodes, but the suspense is nearly over – so when is the season 3 start date?
It’s been three years since season 2 ended in April 2019.
Viewers will remember that the last episode to air centred around Christmas, and excitement in Derry was at fever pitch for President Bill Clinton’s visit…
Since then, there’s been a real-life pandemic and many of the Derry Girls cast have starred in other TV shows.
Siobhán McSweeney, who plays Sister Michael in the comedy, currently stars as Bríd Riordan in Holding on ITV1.
So when is the Derry Girls season three start date, how many episodes is it, and who is returning in the cast?
Here’s everything you need to know about the final ever series!
Derry Girls season 3 start date
Channel 4 has finally announced the start date for Derry Girls season 3 – and it’s soon!
The comedy will return on Tuesday April 12 2022 at 9.15pm on Channel 4.
Every episode will be available to watch afterwards on C4 streaming service All 4.
The third season was first confirmed back in April 2019.
But, as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, filming had to be pushed back.
Cameras finally started rolling on October 2021 when the show’s writer Lisa McGee shared a clapperboard at the start of filming.
We’ve come a long long way together. Let’s do this one last time!!! #DerryGirls pic.twitter.com/BefPXrFgOf
— Lisa McGee (@LisaMMcGee) October 4, 2021
How can I watch season 1 and season 2 of Derry Girls?
Season 1 and season 2 of Derry Girls are available to watch on Channel 4 streaming service All 4.
All six episodes of season 1 are up, as are all six episodes of season 2.
Each episodes is around 25 minutes long, so you have time to catch up before the season 3 start date if you haven’t yet delved into the world of the Derry Girls.
Read more: Holding on ITV: Who is the cast of comedy crime series opposite Conleth Hill?
How many episodes is Derry Girls season 3?
Derry Girls season 3 is six episodes long.
Like the previous two series, season 3 will be made up of six half an hour instalments.
The new series will follow The Great Celebrity Bake Off for SU2C, and The Simpler Life.
New comedy Hullraisers is also due to start on the same night.
Coincidentally, the cast of the Derry Girls took part in the celeb special of Bake Off in 2021.
Derry Girls season 3 – what’s it about?
Channel 4 describes Derry Girls as a “candid, family-centred comedy from writer Lisa McGee, set during The Troubles in Northern Ireland”.
Writer Lisa McGee used her own experiences of childhood and school to create the sitcom.
Season 1 began in 2018 and observed the Quinn family and their friends as they navigated their teens in 1990’s Derry against a backdrop of The Troubles.
Season 2 followed in 2019 and charted the gang navigating their parents, parties, relationships and school against the backdrop of a precarious peace process.
In season 3, viewers will see that while Northern Ireland is growing up, this gang of eejits certainly aren’t anytime soon…
While there’s hope in the air that The Troubles may finally be over, their troubles are only just getting starting as they get ever closer to “adulthood”.
Derry Girls season 3 start date – who is returning in the cast?
Derry Girls will once again follow Erin, her cousin Orla and friends Clare, Michelle and Michelle’s tag-along-English cousin, aka The Wee English Fella, James.
Saoirse-Monica Jackson returns as Erin in Derry Girls season 3.
She’s portrayed the central character since the first series in 2018.
The actress has also starred as Tara in Skint, Janet in Urban Myths, Mia in Unprecedented, and Sasha in The Five.
Louisa Harland is back to play Orla McCool.
She also played Cloda O’Donnell in The Deceived, and Kayleigh in Love/Hate.
Nicola Coughlan stars as Clare, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell is Michelle, and Dylan Llewellyn plays James Maguire.
Unfortunately viewers will see less of Nicola Coughlan’s Clare as her role had to be cut down…
Nicola also stars as Penelope Featherington in Bridgerton, and pandemic-related pushbacks led to a filming overlap.
She told press: “Last year was really difficult.
“I won’t lie because, you know, at the best of times trying to manage different projects, it’s such a push and pull.
“We were meant to film Derry Girls in January 2021.
“And I was totally free and they decided to push it again.
“And that caused me insane stress because I was on [what] in the industry is called first call.
“So it means you have to go and do the show that you’re on first call to, which was Bridgerton.
“It was devastating to me because I wanted to be in all of this. But compromises had to be made.”
The series also stars Tommy Tiernan as Erin’s long-suffering father Gerry, Tara Lynne O’Neill as Erin’s mother Mary, Ian McElhinney as Granda Joe, and Kathy Kiera Clarke as Aunt Sarah.
The brilliant Siobhan McSweeney also makes a welcome comeback as Sister Michael, the straight-talking Headmistress of Lady Immaculate College, where the group attend.
Derry Girls season 3 trailer
The Derry Girls season 3 trailer (see below) is set to the soundtrack of Underworld’s Born Slippy – made famous by the 1996 film Trainspotting.
Sister Michael is seen ominously telling the teenagers to “enjoy what time you have left girls”.
While a panicked Clare Devlin says: “How much longer are we going to ignore the elephant in the room?
“You fail your GCSE’s the school won’t take you back.”
James Maguire later worries he’s “going to die a virgin”, to which cut-throat Michelle Malon replies: “That was always on the cards to be fair.”
There’s also the tease of a new character, when a new plumber causes several fannies to flutter…
Is season 3 the last series of Derry Girls?
Creator Lisa McGee has confirmed that they won’t make any more Derry Girls.
Season 3 will be its last.
A statement released on September 23 2021 read: “It was always the plan to say goodbye after three series.
“Derry Girls is a coming of age story: following five ridiculous teenagers as they slowly… very slowly… start to become adults.
“While around them the place they call home starts to change too and Northern Ireland enters a new more hopeful phrase – which was a small, magical window of time.”
Derry Girls returns to Channel 4 on Tuesday April 12 2022 at 9.15pm.
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