Derry Girls – The Concert Review

Boy bands were all the rage back in the ’90s, including Take That. The latest episode of Derry Girls looks at the Take That phenomenon in a wacky adventure.

The girls and James are excited to go to the Take That concert in Belfast. Their families refuse to let them go when news breaks that a polar bear has escaped from Belfast Zoo. Undeterred the gang defy their mothers and make the journey to the Northern Irish capital.

“The Concert” is the type of story that has been made many times before. It is a popular stable of teen-focused American sitcoms. Yet Lisa McGee is able to put her own twist on this formula and made a fantastic episode.

A couple members of the cast have stated that “The Concert” was their favourite episode in the season. It certainly was the most outlandish. This is an episode that features escaped wildlife, the girls carrying a dead sheep, and running into some Irish Travellers. Some of these scenes would have fitted in The Inbetweeners.

Yet even with all this silliness, the episode is able to override it by being coincidently funny. The girls cause a bomb scare in 1990s Northern Ireland where they should know better but the sequence was so funny that the show was able to overcome this.  It’s the same issue where the girls debate whether they should rescue James – where they choose between him or the concert. Erin points out that James has the tickets leading me to think ‘why didn’t you just lead with that point?’

As with previous episodes of Derry Girls there is the usual amount of character development and dynamics. Throughout the show’s run Erin has painted herself as an enlightened, liberally minded person but her actions say otherwise. Erin thought a Ukrainian exchange student was a prostitute and when Claire came out as gay Erin told her to go back in the closet. In this episode she wanted to prove she did not believe in Irish Traveller stereotype but when the travellers called out to them she ran in fear.

Michelle revealed her crush on Robbie Williams which many ’90s teens had and James finally found some people that actually support him. Claire and Orla are their usual selves. Orla had some funny moments like saying she would fight a polar bear and revealing she likes Take That more than James (fair enough really.)  Louisa Harland as Orla is great doing actions in the background which makes scenes in Derry Girls worth rewatching. In the scene where the girls were chased Orla was smiling when the rest of the gang were panicking.

Gerry (Tommy Tiernan), Erin’s Da, is usually made out to be the rational member of the family. But he often gets ignored because Mary (Tara Lynne O’Neill) overacts and Orla’s mum, Sarah (Kathy Kiera Clarke) is as dizzy as her daughter. They are the ones who prevent the girls from going to the concert because of the bear. And Grandpa Joe (Ian McElhinney) sides with his daughters just because he dislikes his son-in-law. Their antipathy is highlighted by Joe causally pointing a gun at Gerry. The episode does have a satisfying end for Gerry.

“The Concert” does have a great guest star with Kerri Quinn (Vicky Jefferies from Coronation Street) as Rita – a drunk merchandise seller with a violent temper. She’s dressed like a rocker but has a love for classical music especially Pavarotti and believes Take That fans are mugs. Ryan McParland was also a fun presence. If you think the Northern Irish accent is hard to understand it’s nothing compared to McParland’s Traveller accent: think Brad Pitt in Snatch.

There is a fair amount of regional specific humour.  Like with the previous episode there is a reference to the rivalry between Derry and Belfast, and in the background was the prospect of peace talks which led to a great punchline.

“The Concert” is a is deserving of the praise it has been receiving. It is one of the best in the show’s run so hilarious episode that far.