Derry Girls star Siobhan McSweeney has revealed that the cast of the hit sitcom missed out on a fitting farewell after filming concluded on the final season.
Channel 4’s hit series follows a group of young women growing up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, including their experiences at a fictional school called Our Lady Immaculate College – where McSweeney’s Sister Michael is headmistress.
Last year, it was announced that the upcoming third season would be the last for Derry Girls, a move that writer Lisa McGee said was “always” the plan.
However, one thing that was never in the plan was the outbreak of a global pandemic, which played havoc with the show’s shooting schedule, causing the major delay between seasons 2 and 3.
It also prevented the Derry Girls cast from being able to have a proper send-off after finishing their work together, with McSweeney revealing social restrictions prevented any big celebrations from going ahead.
She told Digital Spy: “Because of COVID and various other circumstances, it felt worse than normal as it would be taking off the habit for the very last time because we didn’t get to properly say goodbye. But I can assure you it is goodbye, unfortunately.”
Nevertheless, she’ll always look back on her time on Derry Girls fondly, expressing her gratitude to McGee for crafting such an interesting character for her to play.
“That woman has changed my life,” she said of Sister Michael. “And as I stole loads of things from the set, I will always have a bit of her with me, and I’m grateful to her. I think of her outside of me. I mean, what a gift of a role.”
As for Derry Girls season 3, McSweeney was careful not to disclose any spoilers, but promised fans that the tough three-year wait between seasons will be rewarded with a stellar batch of episodes.
“You’re genuinely in for such a treat,” she added. “It will be worth the wait. I didn’t think I’d say that when I was still waiting for the third series to happen, it’s taken so f**king long. But seriously, it’s worth the wait.”
Derry Girls is available to stream on Netflix. Check out more of our Comedy coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
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