Derry Girls, featuring Tommy Tiernan, is a brand new comedy following teenager Erin, who's growing up in 1990s Northern Ireland and living her life against the backdrop of the conflict.
The six-part series, which kicks-off on January 4, is written by Lisa McGee and mirrors her own stories of growing up in the Northern Ireland city in the early 90s.
The show focuses on Erin (Saoirse Jackson) and her friends are used to seeing their country on the nightly news and speaking in acronyms (The IRA, The UDA, The RUC).
It’s a time of armed police in armoured Land Rovers and British Army check points. But it’s also the time of Murder She Wrote, The Cranberries, MJ and Lisa Marie, Doc Martens, bomber jackets, The X Files, Nirvana and Wayne’s World. And while The Troubles may hang over her home town, Erin has troubles of her own.
Tommy Tiernan stars as Gerry Quinn a "southerner, married into a very strong northern household who, the comedian says was "hated" by his father-in-law.
"I am hated by my father-in-law who transfers some of the abandonment issues on to me as a 'soft southerner' meaning that the life of the southern Irish hasn’t been as traumatic as the northern Irish, therefore they are a lot tougher so I have supposedly come from this soft southern background into this wild northern Irish family."
The stand-up star added: "I think it will go down very well in Northern Ireland and I think it will go down well in southern Ireland . As soon as they send me a sample episode of this I was like 'jeez this is brilliant' the writing is so sharp, the girls are fantastically sarcastic and funny. It was a no-brainer for me to do it."
Ahead of the series premiere Channel 4 has issued a handy Derry Girls glossary for viewers who may not be up to speed with the local vernacular.
Check it out below:
Bars: Gossip / scandal
Boke: Vomit
Brit: A member of the British armed forces
Broke: Embarrassed
Broke to the bone: Hugely embarrassed
Buncrana: A popular holiday destination
Buzzing: Very happy
Catch yourself on: "Don’t be so ridiculous"
Cack attack: A state of extreme nervousness "I’m having a complete Cack attack"
Chicken ball special: A local delicacy
Class: Brilliant
Craic: Fun, but also news e.g. "Tell us your craic?"
Cracker: Beyond brilliant
Critter: Someone who evokes sympathy e.g. "You poor Critter"
Dose: An unbearable human being
Dicko: A general insult
Eejit: Idiot
Hi: A sound placed at the end of almost any sentence for no particularly reason e.g. "No problem hi"
Gone: Please
Head melter: Someone who causes you mental distress
Lurred: Absolutely delighted
Mind: "Do you remember?"
Mouth: Someone prone to exaggeration
Mucker: Friend
No Bother: "That’s no trouble whatsoever"
Raging: Annoyed/angry
Ride (n): A very attractive person
Ride (v): To have sex
Ripping: Extremely annoyed / angry
Saunter: "Be on your way"
Shite the tights: Someone of a nervous disposition
Slabber: A show off
So it is/so I am: A phrase used for emphasis e.g. "I’m delighted, so I am"
Start: To provoke e.g. "Don’t start me"
Stall the ball: "Stop what you’re doing immediately"
Tayto cheese and onion sandwich: A local delicacy
Wain: A child or young person
Watch yourself: Take care
Wile: Very or Terrible
Wise up: "Don’t be so stupid and/or immature"
Yes: Hello
