Ma Mary and Aunt Sarah's 1970s schooldays are set to feature in next week’s episode of hit Channel 4 comedy Derry Girls.
The show is currently airing its third and final series and creator Lisa McGee has said she wanted to pay tribute to the strong mother figures on the series - Ma Mary (Tara Lynne O'Neill) and Aunt Sarah (Kathy Kiera Clarke).
Speaking to Digital Spy, McGee confirmed that the May 10 episode of Derry Girls will be a special homage to Mary and Sarah that will reveal the "horrific" times they grew up during their school days in the '70s.
"Writing this show, honestly - and this might sound a bit sentimental - it's been a real learning experience for me as a person, not just a writer," McGee said. "I don't talk about a lot of the terrible things.
"In Northern Ireland, you handle it with humour, and you just crack on. I think for the parents' generation, it was a war zone. It was horrific what they went through, and we just didn't appreciate it.
"We just moaned and then complained when we were not allowed to do anything. By writing the show and looking back I realised why they were so strict, why the school was so strict, what they had seen, what they lived through, and I have such an appreciation and respect. I'm so embarrassed at how we behaved now!
"They were incredible what they got through, they're just the strongest people, that generation."
McGee added that she "always wanted to write something as a tribute to those women. It was mostly women, particularly in Derry, most of the workforce would have been women.
"There was hardly any jobs for men, and it was the factory town, so people earning the wage and you know, head of the household, it was mummy culture. I just want to just sort of pay tribute to that, and to the women that got us through it."
She also said she had always envisioned a special episode about the two sisters and the final series provided her with an opportunity to do it.
"The third season, it's my last chance, I have to do it now," McGee said. "So that was the first episode of this series I pitched to Channel 4. It's risky because it's very different, and it's not the show's formula, but they just went 'Yeah, go for it' because they're Channel 4 and they're incredible and taking risks is the thing they're known for."
She added of Ma Mary and Aunt Sarah: "Before s*** got serious and they had their family, they were the silly people too. I mean, they're still quite silly on the show as adults, but you know, all mummies were young once!"
Derry Girls recently confirmed that a special extra episode focused on the historic Good Friday Agreement will air.
