HIT comedy show Derry Girls has secured three nominations for this year’s BAFTA TV awards, including the coveted Best Scripted Comedy category.
The British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) nominations, released on Wednesday, include Derry Girls’ writer, Lisa McGee in the craft category for Best Comedy Writer.
Siobhán McSweeney from Cork, who plays the cynical Sr Michael, also won a nomination in the Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme class.
It’s the second time “Derry Girls” has been nominated in the Best Scripted Comedy category, having previously been placed in 2020 but failing to win.
The show faces stiff competition, going head-to-head with the popular Ghosts series, Big Boys and BBC’s Am I Being Unreasonable.
McSweeney is also in impressive company with Daisy May Coper, Diane Morgan and Lucy Beaumont, among others, also nominated.
The show - which followed the escapades of Derry girls, Erin Quinn (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), Orla (Louisa Harland), Clare (Nichola Coughlan) and Michelle (Jamie-Lee O’Donnell) and cousin, James (Dylan Llewellyn) - completed its third and final series last May.
Premiered in January 2018, the Channel 4 series broke the record for the station’s highest viewing records. It also won a huge international following when it was picked up by Netflix in December 2018.
The BAFTA nominations included recognition for a number of other Irish acts and entertainers. Co Cork actress, Fiona Shaw gets a nod in the Best Supporting Actress category for her performance in “Andor”.
Fellow Cork actor, Cillian Murphy has been tipped in the Leading Actor sector for his role in Peaky Blinders. And, in an almost clean sweep for the Rebel County, Graham Norton has won a nomination for his comedy show in the Comedy Light Entertainment class.
Following the announcement of the nominations, Derry Girls’ creator, Ms McGee took to social media to express her delight.
The Derry writer tweeted: “Thank you for the nominations BAFTA, lovely high for Derry girls to go out on. And we’re in such cracking company”.
The BAFTA TV winners will be announced at a gala event next Thursday, March 30.
