Derry Girls ‘substantially delayed’ as Channel 4 brand filming under social distancing their ‘biggest frustration’
DERRY Girls' hotly-anticipated third season looks to be a long way off.
The beloved Channel 4 comedy, like most other TV, faced major production delays as the coronavirus pandemic swept the world.
The situation remains bleak, as the broadcaster has revealed that out of their entire TV offering, Derry Girls is all but impossible to adapt to social distancing guidelines.
This is because of the close quarters natures of filming and small set relative to many other productions.
"Our biggest frustration has been Derry Girls, which has been quite substantially delayed, because of pretty much everything we've made it's the hardest thing to make the social distancing work," explained Deputy Director of Progammes Kelly Webb-Lamb.
"It's the most close, sort of intimate production," she continued at the virtual Edinburgh TV Festival.
Speaking on the bigger picture for new content, she went on: "Scripted TV has been the area that's probably the most disrupted by COVID, unsurprisingly, and we've had a pretty thin year like most of the broadcasters with no significant new drama."
The news will no doubt be disappointing to fans, but there could be some other exciting Derry Girls material on the horizon.
Just last month writer Lisa McGee said downtime in lockdown had given her a chance to develop the idea for a feature length version of the show.
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However, this wouldn't likely start production until season 3 is complete, meaning a 2021 release is unlikely.
Speaking on Ray D’Arcy’s RTÉ Radio 1 show on Tuesday, she explained: "For a while I didn’t know if it would work but now an idea is starting to vaguely form in my head, so after series three I’ll think about that a bit more.
"I’d like to do it and I think the cast would too so that would be the long-term plan."
Elsewhere Nicola Coughlan, who plays Clare Devlin, lamented the fact the delay in filming has kept her apart from her co-stars, including Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Dylan Llewellyn, Louisa Harland and Jamie-Lee O'Donnell.
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She explained to Angela Scanlon's Thanks A Million podcast: "We made the second series back in 2018, so it’s been a long time since we’ve been together filming.
"We’ve all been in contact with one another and just seeing how we’re getting on.
"We’re close and we share that bond with one another."
Derry Girls seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream on 4OD now.