Derry Girls star tells how virus affected third series

Nicola Coughlan has said the coronavirus crisis means it has been a long time since she has seen her Derry Girls castmates.

The actress, who plays Claire in the hit show, said filming for the third series has been postponed because of the pandemic and the cast has still not seen scripts.

Speaking to Angela Scanlon on her podcast Thanks A Million, she said: “We were meant to start filming around now.

“It was mad because when this all started, I think your brain makes assumptions to make you feel better, like ‘it’ll just be a month, it’ll be fine’.

“But filming has been put on hold for now which sucks, and we’re all really excited to go back and start again and see the scripts because we actually haven’t.

“We made the second series back in 2018, so it’s been a long time since we’ve been together filming.

“There’s tentative dates when we hope to go back but we don’t really know at the minute.

“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.

“Our lives all changed so drastically so quickly, and there’s no one that can relate to that in the same way.

“So we’re lucky to have one another.

“I think no matter what other jobs I get to do, there’s never gonna be anything like that. That’s just gonna be a special thing.

“And I don’t ever want there to be another Derry Girls.

I want to go and do lots of different things, but I think it will always hold such a special place for me because it was the type of show I always wanted to be in.

“I was always like, ‘Irish women are hilarious and I don’t think we see enough Irish comedy on TV’.

“When I first met my agent Emma, I said: ‘I really think I would do well in a Channel 4 comedy.’ And this was before I ever knew about the existence of the script. I felt like that was the right path to start on.”

Listen to Nicola Coughlan on Thanks A Million with Angela Scanlon tomorrow on Apple, Spotify and all podcast providers.

Picture: PA.