A forthcoming eight-part TV series from Derry Girls-creator Lisa McGee has recently been commissioned by Netflix, in collaboration with Hat Trick Productions. The show, How To Get To Heaven From Belfast, recently switched from Channel 4 to Netflix, citing editorial direction and funding to justify to move.

The series centres on a group of friends, now middle-aged, who embark on a journey together. The group is made up of three equally busy women: A clever, chaotic TV writer Saoirse, glamorous, stressed-out mother of three Robyn and dependable, inhibited carer Dara, who have all been a tight-knit crew since school. Now in their late thirties, but still as close as ever, these three friends are about to enter upon the most thrilling adventure of their lives. When an email arrives, informing them of the death of the estranged fourth member in their childhood gang, Greta, a series of eerie events at her wake set them on a dark, dangerous and hilarious odyssey across Ireland and beyond as each tries to piece together the truth of the past.

At it's core, How To Get To Heaven From Belfast is a show about friendship, memory and what happens when life doesn’t turn out quite like you’d expected.

Show-runner Lisa McGee is perhaps best known for creating the Channel 4 dramedy series Derry Girls (2018-2022) and the gaslighting thriller The Deceived (2020). The former became an instant hit for its raucous hilarity, its incredible cast and story and its biting political commentary as the series follows four schoolgirls and their antics around Derry, a city tormented by the presence and after-effects of The Troubles. The finale of Derry Girls aired in 2022. In an interview with Hot Press following the finale, McGee spoke about her whirlwind career and the series that catapulted it.

“I wanted to be a playwright or a screenwriter, which was a bit naïve because not a lot of working-class girls had been given those opportunities before,” McGee reflected. Despite the supposed 'naivete,' McGee has made writing for television her calling card, suffusing theatrical weight and the gravity of drama into her productions.

Derry Girls became an international hit when it first aired on Channel 4 in 2018, informing a new generation of viewers of the trials and tribulations which beset Northern Ireland throughout 20th century, and still continue by means of recovering from trauma.

Speaking about the widely-acclaimed series, McGee commented: “It’s amazing to think that people from countries like America, Mexico and Brazil, where the show is also really popular, are learning about Ireland from Derry Girls. Comedy has the power to do that because it’s not sermonising or boring. It’s ‘We’re going to make you laugh and maybe we’ll sneak in a wee bit of information as well.’ I know myself that if I’m intrigued by a show I’ll go away and look things up and do my own research.”

McGee's new series How To Get To Heaven From Belfast will be directed by Michael Lennox, with executive producers Caroline Leddy (Derry Girls, The Inbetweeners), Micheal Lennox (Derry Girls, Say Nothing), Liz Lewin (Derry Girls, The Lovers), Lisa McGee and Jimmy Mulville.

While a release date is not yet set, How To Get To Heaven From Belfast will begin filming in Northern Ireland this summer.