The final season of Derry Girls won the International Emmy for Best Comedy Programme.

The award was announced at the 51st International Emmy Awards ceremony in New York on Monday, November 20. The Netflix hit, which began as a Channel 4 comedy series, was written and created by Lisa McGee, who accepted the award on stage.

Derry Girls tied for the Emmy in the comedy category alongside Vir Das: Landing, which is the fourth stand-up special by Indian comedian Vir Das.

We have a Tie! The International Emmy for Comedy goes to “Derry Girls – Season 3” produced by Hat Trick Productions#iemmyWIN pic.twitter.com/3bKrxFEoUT

— International Emmy Awards (@iemmys) November 21, 2023

Derry Girls follows a group of teenagers growing up in Northern Ireland during the 1990s. It takes place prior to the Good Friday Agreement, and it has shown people across the world what it was like to grow up during the conflict called the Troubles. The series includes 19 episodes which were originally broadcasted for three seasons from 2018 until 2022.

The final season of Derry Girls, in particular, is a powerful testament to the recent history of Northern Ireland and the fight for peace. The Troubles lasted for 30 years, and during that time, more than 3,500 people were killed.

In the final episode, Orla and Erin organise their joint 18th birthday party while everyone is preparing to vote on the referendum for the Good Friday Agreement, which brought an end to the Troubles.

The series manages to pay tribute to this time period while also offering an adorable and comedic take on what it was like to be a teenager during the 1990s. Nicola Coughlan plays the iconic “wee lesbian”, whose character Clare came out at the end of season one. She stars alongside co-stars Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Louisa Harland and Dylan Llewellyn.

 

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Additionally during the Emmys ceremony, GLAAD was recognised with an award for the organisation’s “work over nearly four decades to secure fair, accurate and diverse representation of the LGBTQ+ community in the media and entertainment industries and to advocate for LGBTQ+ equality.”

Speaking about GLAAD’s work, TV Academy chairman Frank Scherma said, “Television shapes our society and influences dialogue that increases understanding and acceptance, making GLAAD’s work so important to the LGBTQ community to legislative bodies and to the public.”