Not since Father Ted has a sitcom captured the humour and wit of Irish people so accurately as Derry Girls.
The show debuted on screens in in 2018, telling the story of five teenagers trundling through secondary school in Derry during The Troubles in the 1990s. It was an instant hit, appealing to audiences who lived through their teenage years in the nineties as well as younger audiences who related to the show's lovable protagonists.
After making stars of actresses Nicola Coughlan (who others may now recognise from Bridgerton) and Saoirse-Monica Jackson, and scooping awards and nominations at the BAFTAs and the British Screen Writers Awards, there appeared to be no stopping this juggernaut sitcom.
It would seem however, that all good things must come to end as the show's creator Lisa McGee announced yesterday that the upcoming third series would be its last.
"It was always the plan to say goodbye after three series," McGee wrote in a statement she posted on Twitter. "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 phase - which was a small, magical window of time."
"Derry Girls is a love letter to the place I come from and the people who shaped me. It has been an honour to write it and I will be forever proud of everything it's achieved," she continued. "I'd like to thank the people of Derry and Northern Ireland for getting behind us."
"Thanks also to the team behind the series, the incredible Hat Trick Productions and a special thanks to Channel 4 - the channel I grew up watching; the channel that made me want to write comedy and the only channel that could have made our show."
She left a glimmer of hope with fans of the show by hinting that she would be open to bringing the characters back in some form, perhaps in the form of a one off special, down the line: "Who knows if Erin, Clare, Orla, Michelle and James will return in some other guise someday?"
"But for now, this is it for us and we're excited to start filming this series with our incredible cast and crew to hopefully take our loyal fans on one last adventure."
The final series of Derry Girls is set to air on Channel 4 next year.
Featured Image Credit: Niall Carson/PA Archive/PA ImagesTopics: Ireland