Time to crank your cassette tape of The Cranberries to 11, don your scrunchies and embrace your inner '90s kid for one last time as Derry Girls prepares to say goodbye after three glorious seasons.
The Northern Ireland-based sitcom, set against the background of The Troubles, made us fall in love with Erin, Orla, Clare, Michelle and James as they tried (and often failed) to mature into adulthood with grace.
It's hard for us to picture what we're going to miss more – Sister Michael's acidic putdowns, Aunt Sarah's perfectly bonkers outlook on life or our weekly dose of the besties that make even the bad days seem brighter.
Created by Lisa McGee, Derry Girls was never intended to last forever, with the writer herself stating she wanted the show to go out on her own terms.
Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, Lisa explained: "I honestly feel hugely grateful that I got to do the three, and got to do the stories I wanted to, and got to go out the way I wanted to go out.
"So many shows get cancelled after one series or, you know, or have any writer feeling a lot of pressure, a kind of too many cooks thing. I never had that, I was always sort of given a lot of freedom with Derry Girls.
"So it's really been a complete joy to take these characters on this journey and not have it interfered with, it's been really pure. I don't know if I'll ever have this experience again."
Adding it was something she "felt like she was writing for herself", Lisa based the story of her own experiences as a teen growing up in Londonderry around the time Derry Girls is set. The Troubles were the backdrop of her younger life as she grew up in a war zone without totally being aware or appreciative of the weight that carried, until something forced it into her line of vision over Smash Hits magazine and the latest Boyzone poster.
In her announcement of the show ending, Lisa described Derry Girls as "a love letter to the people who shaped me" and confirmed that three series was the plan all along.
It's no secret that Derry Girls got a bit of a punch in the production line thanks to coronavirus, with filming repeatedly pushed back due to social-distancing restrictions. Thanks to the show's own success, it also became increasingly difficult to get the cast all together in one place.
It was so tight in fact, that Nicola Coughlan (Clare) was somewhat sidelined during season three. Her other smash-hit show Bridgerton overlapped filming with Derry Girls, and ultimately writers had to make adjustments to her participation in the series in order to make sure she was in it at all.
This is most noticeable in series three's third episode 'Stranger On a Train', where Clare was conveniently "left on the platform" after the train arrived while her character went for a wee. Nicola herself later confirmed the episode was shot while she was still attached to Bridgerton. In the final episode The Agreement, Clare moves out of Derry completely after the death of her father to explain why she could largely only communicate with her pals over the phone.
So the third season definitely got a late arrival, but while it's easy to blame COVID for the show's seemingly swift ending, that's actually not the case. In fact, weeks before lockdown took effect in the UK, Tommy Tiernan (who plays Erin's dad Gerry), let the news slip this would be the last season in a radio interview.
Speaking on Jason Manford's Absolute Radio show in March 2020, Tommy said: "This is last series, I think. As far as I know this is the very last series."
Despite his comment, it wasn't officially confirmed that the story would end until September 2021.
Will there be spin-offs or a movie?
There has been a lot of buzz about potential spin-offs for the show, especially considering episode five of season three, 'The Reunion', left the main cast completely in order to focus on the younger versions of the parents.
Some believed this episode was effectively acting as a backdoor pilot (ie. testing the waters to gauge reaction for a full series).
But speaking to us, Lisa McGee put that to bed rather quickly, instead insisting the episode was simply something "for the mammies" and to show her appreciation of what they went through during the worst of The Troubles. In fact, she has no intentions of a spin-off at all any time soon.
"I wouldn't do a spin-off now, and I have no plans to do a spin-off," she said. "I have all this stuff that's been put to one side because I wanted to finish Derry Girls properly, and put all my focus on that and do it justice, but those things have to sort of move up the queue, so I wouldn't be able to make another for a while even if I wanted to.
"But I always thought, just for my own amusement. There's something in Aunt Sarah and Ma Mary, and there's something in Jenny Joyce and her little sidekick Aisling," she then teased.
Likewise, Siobhan McSweeney, who plays Sister Michael, also confirmed to us she had no intention of getting back in the habit for a spin-off of her own either, saying she'd agree "only if it was set in the Maldives".
So… never say never, but somehow we don't see that happening.
Ideas for a movie have also been put to bed as well, with rumours that one was in the works likely becoming the one-hour finale special around the Good Friday Agreement.
Sorry guys, but it seems that most of the cast have made their peace with the show ending.
Dylan Llewelyn, who plays James, dubbed the series ending now as a testament to "quality over quantity".
We guess it's time to admit we've got to say goodbye to Derry as we know it. But it's been one hell of a ride – if not the kind of ride Michelle would go on about.
"[Derry Girls] has been this amazing, massive thing in my life for more than six years now," Lisa said in the run up to the finale. "I read one of those platitudes people put on Instagram that said, 'Don't be sad it's over, but glad it happened' and that's how I feel.
"I am so grateful to have been able to do this in the first place, and the fact that I've been allowed to finish it the way I wanted to finish it has been incredible. I don't think many writers can say that, that they've been given the chance to really say what they want to say, the way they want to say it.
"It's such a privilege and honour, really. I'm a bit nervous about some of it, but I can't wait for everyone to see it."
Derry Girls is available to stream on 4OD.
Best Entertainment and Tech Deals
Coronation Street X Joanie - Gilroy Retro Newton And Ridley Sweatshirt
Freelance writer, Digital Spy
Tilly is Gold-Standard NCTJ accredited journalist with eight years of experience in entertainment journalism.
She has been heard giving her insight on the latest TV stories on BBC Radio across the country and on BBC News.
Previously working with The Sun Online, Yahoo, Metro.co.uk and Independent IE amongst others, she joined the Digital Spy team from 2021-2023 as Deputy TV Editor (Maternity cover).
With a speciality in TV drama and true crime, Tilly has been praised for her exclusive content with A-list stars ranging from Sir David Attenborough to the lawyers behind Making A Murderer.
She’s happy to report her mum now takes her seriously as a journalist as she got to interview George Clooney once.
