Screenwriter Lisa McGee returns to the sharp, female-led Irish humour that made Derry Girls a global hit with her new Netflix comedy, How to Get to Heaven From Belfast - a project that took her right back to her teenage years.
The eight-part show reunites the BAFTA-winning writer with director Michael Lennox and follows three estranged childhood friends in their late 30s who are brought back together by the death of a fourth friend.
Starring Róisín Gallagher, Sinéad Keenan and Caoilfhionn Dunne, the series centres on a glam Belfast mother, a single woman still living in her childhood bedroom and a chaotic television writer.
Speaking to RTÉ Entertainment ahead of the show's release, McGee admitted that success has not dulled her nerves.
"It’s crazy. I’m very nervous," she said. "I find that doing the Irish press always makes me nervous because I really want people at home to enjoy it. I’ll be grand when it’s out there and I’ve seen the response."
McGee said she was keen to put women in their late 30s at the heart of the story and explained how writing the series prompted her to reflect on her own teenage years, describing her younger self as "a bit of a dreamer".
"I’d spent so long writing about my teenage years that I started thinking about where I’m at now and where my friends are at," she said. "That relationship between your older and younger self is fascinating. Younger you sometimes had the answers, and then life got in the way."
Unlike Derry Girls, where jokes were packed into almost every scene, McGee said the comedy here was deliberately restrained to allow space for a central mystery.
"It was about getting the balance right," she explained. "Sometimes the jokes had to be dialled down to let the story breathe. We lost a fair few jokes because they pulled focus from the tone."
The three lead actors, she said, were central to making the dynamic work.
"When they sat down together before they even read, we were laughing," McGee said. "It felt like friends who were just about to start arguing," she laughed.
The series also features a nostalgia-heavy soundtrack, with songs from Girls Aloud, B*Witched and Dane Bowers.
"I wanted it to be very Irish and very female," McGee said. "Songs women would actually want to listen to, that people would recognise from their own friendship groups."
While no second series has yet been confirmed, McGee said she hopes audiences will give the show a chance.
"I think early on it’s clear it’s a bit different from Derry Girls," she said. "I just hope people settle in and enjoy it. I’d love to write another story for that gang."
How to Get to Heaven From Belfast is released on Netflix on 12 February.
