‘We are really excited and ambitious for the third series of Derry Girls’

But a new book by the original Derry Girl, Lisa McGee, will bridge the gap for fans as they wait to find out what trouble their favourite school girls (and the wee English fella) get into next.

‘Erin’s Diary’ fleshes out the character of Erin and contains some new material.

”The book follows the first two series and contains Erin’s thoughts that you don’t see on the show about things that have already happened,” Lisa explains. “Then there’s also new material and it’s a bit of a scrapbook as well. There are notes from her friends, school reports, Christmas cards and cards from her mum.”

The ‘Journal’ also features in the book, with front pages outlining some of the iconic scenes from the show.

“It isn’t too far removed from the show. It’s all in the character’s voices, although it is a bit more Erin focussed and written in the first person,” Lisa said. “It just sounds exactly like the show and is an extension of what is already there.” 

Lisa had agreed to do the book before lockdown, but it became her project during it.

”It was a crazy time. I actually rented a church near to where I lived in London because I couldn’t get any peace to work in the house. It was a nightmare. “I asked the vicar if I could rent an office and I ended up having the whole church to myself to write the book.”

Lisa said ‘Erin’s Diary’ gave her something to focus on during lockdown. I had quite a lot going on and for me it was about finding a way for it to all work. I was still working, the kids were at home and there was no childcare. I got there in the end, but I was pulling my hair out at one stage.”

Lisa said she hopes the book will bring a bit of laughter to people during a time when the world is ‘mad’.

“We didn’t realise we wouldn’t be filming the next series as planned when I agreed to do the book. It is a nice thing for fans that they can still get their hands on some sort of Derry Girls story.

“Hopefully it just brings a bit of silliness and joy to people, because it has been a stressful year for everyone and all we wanted to do with the book is to give people a laugh.”

Lisa said she is ‘frustrated’ that the third series was pushed back because of the Covid-19 pandemic, as all the scripts are finished and it is ready to go.

“Unfortunately we got pushed because of Covid and we couldn’t film when we wanted to. As soon as you push a date like that, because there are so many people involved in the show, you have to wait until all those pieces align again.

“We are trying to pin down a date when everyone is available and then we are just going to go for it. We’re so frustrated that we are having to wait because we just want to get on with it. We are all really excited about series three.”

Lisa revealed the characters will be about a year older, but are ‘still eejits getting into trouble every week’.

“We have a lot of ambition for series three and some really big scale things are going to happen.

“The characters have to grow up a wee bit and some quite emotional stories happen for them as well. But at it’s heart it’s still Derry Girls and they are still running about getting into trouble.”

There has been a lot of speculation about a Derry Girls movie in the future and Lisa admits it is something the team are keen to do.

“I think we would all love to do it, but for us right now it is about getting series three finished. After that we will see what the plans are,” she said.

“I can only take it one step at a time. Once I know series three is finished, I can think about the next best step and a movie is something we are all very keen to do.”

The award winning screenwriter has had huge success this year, with The Deceived, which she worked on with her husband Tobias Beer.

She revealed they are working on another show together, something which is ‘quite dark and serious which will be coming up next year’.

‘Erin’s Diary’ is out now.