Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee has shared the first trailer for the new sitcom, How To Get To Heaven From Belfast.
The new show will arrive on Netflix on February 12, and follows three women in Ireland as they find out some shocking news about one of their childhood friends, and come together to investigate what happened.
Starring Roísín Gallagher (The Lovers) as Saoirse, Sinéad Keenan (Unforgotten) as Robyn, and Caoilfhionn Dunne (A Thousands Blows) as Dara, the first preview dropped on YouTube earlier today (Thursday January 15). It also features a brief cameo from Derry Girls star Saoirse-Monica Jackson.
Other cast members include Tom Basden (After Life), Art Campion (Derry Girls), Michelle Fairley (Game of Thrones), Bronagh Gallagher (Pulp Fiction), and Natasha O’Keeffe (Peaky Blinders).
A new synopsis reads: “Clever, chaotic TV writer Saoirse, glamorous, stressed-out mother of three Robyn, and dependable, inhibited carer Dara have been a tight-knit group since school. Now in their late 30s, but still as close as ever, these three friends are about to embark on the most thrilling adventure of their lives.
“When an email arrives, telling them about the death of the estranged fourth member of their childhood gang, a series of eerie events at her wake set them on a dark, dangerous and hilarious odyssey through Ireland and beyond as each tries to piece together the truth of the past.”
It also describes it as “a show about friendship, memory and what happens when life doesn’t turn out quite like you’d expected.”
The show is created and written by McGee, directed by Michael Lennox, and will be split into eight 60-minute episodes.
Speaking to Tudum, the Derry Girls creator described How To Get To Heaven From Belfast as “the show I’ve always wanted to make; a mash‑up of my two favourite genres: mystery and comedy.”
“We want to keep you guessing and keep you laughing. I can’t wait for you to meet Saoirse, Robyn and Dara, and go on this wild, weird adventure with them — an Irish odyssey — full of twists, turns, and arguments about eyelash extensions,” she continued.
She also went on to say that she was left “in awe” by the talent and chemistry of the cast, and shared that Netflix had been “ so incredibly supportive of our mad vision”.
Derry Girls was first broadcast on Channel 4 back in 2018, and ran for three series before finishing in 2022. The third and final series won an International Emmy award for comedy, and was given a full five-stars from NME, which described it “as a fitting, side-splitting farewell”.
McGee first revealed that she was working on a new series in August 2023, and revealed that it would be following four Irish friends in their 30s who become embroiled in a mystery after they attend the wake of a former classmate.