‘How to Get to Heaven from Belfast’ is for all the ‘Derry Girls’ fans

The show that Lisa McGee is best known for, Derry Girls is proof that teenage girls will remain unhinged, regardless of political unrest. Set during The Troubles, the show follows a group of Catholic schoolgirls whose priorities include boys, gossip, and avoiding authority figures, often in that order. Add to that a pitch-perfect ’90s soundtrack packed with absolute bangers, and the chaos hits even harder. Sharp, silly, and secretly profound, it captures girlhood in all its loud, loyal, eye-rolling glory. History looms, but the girls steal the spotlight every single time.

Girls is the show that made being deeply annoying an art form. Lena Dunham’s polarising series follows four women stumbling through their twenties with unchecked confidence, emotional baggage, and very little self-awareness. It’s uncomfortable, funny, and often too honest for its own good, capturing the awkwardness of ambition, money stress, and friendships that shift without warning. Love it or hate it, Girls cracked open a space for female characters who weren’t aspirational or apologetic.

Female friendship, but make it dark, twisty, and occasionally criminal. Dead to Me follows a tightly wound widow and a free-spirited optimist whose chance meeting at a grief support group spirals into a bond built on secrets, lies, and wine-fuelled emotional breakdowns. What begins as mutual healing quickly turns into a high-stakes web of guilt, cover-ups, and escalating chaos. Balancing laugh-out-loud moments with genuine devastation, the show proves women can carry both comedy and darkness without softening the edges. It’s sharp, bingeable, and deliciously unhinged.

Broad City is a love letter to platonic obsession, chaos, and surviving adulthood with your favourite person by your side. The stoner comedy sees Abbi and Ilana navigate bad jobs, worse decisions, and big dreams while treating friendship as their most important relationship. New York emerges as a third character—loud, demanding, and endlessly distracting—shaping their ambitions and misadventures. Absurd, unapologetic, and deeply sincere, the show understands that sometimes your best friend isn’t just part of your life…they are your life.

The Sex Lives of College Girls follows four wildly different roommates navigating their first year at an elite American college, where freedom arrives fast and consequences arrive faster. Between hookups, heartbreaks, academic pressure, and identity crises, the show tracks how sex, ambition, class, and friendship collide in messy, often hilarious ways. The comedy is loud and fast, but the emotional beats sneak up on you, especially as the girls begin to figure out who they are outside expectations. Smart, chaotic, and sharply observed, it captures the thrill and confusion of growing up all at once.

Insecure centres on Issa Dee, a well-meaning mess trying to get her career, love life, and confidence together in Los Angeles. Across its seasons, the show tracks breakups, rebounds, job pivots, financial stress, and the slow, painful evolution of friendships, especially Issa’s bond with the driven and exacting Molly. What begins as light, awkward comedy deepens into an honest portrait of ambition, resentment, and self-growth. Smart, stylish, and emotionally precise, Insecure captures the uncomfortable in-between of wanting more while not quite knowing how to get there.

We Are Lady Parts is a standout British comedy that thrives on chaos and confidence. The series follows Amina, a painfully shy microbiology PhD student who is unexpectedly recruited as the lead guitarist for an all-women Muslim punk band. Once pulled into their orbit, the show moves through rehearsals, gigs, friendships, crushes, and creative meltdowns as Amina navigates faith, family expectations, and identity. Told through surreal fantasy sequences, sharp humour, and original punk tracks, it is loud, fast, and funny, capturing the joy of finding your people and learning to take up space.