How to Get to Heaven From Belfast

And now for something completely different, as a famous comedy troupe once said. This isn’t like anything you have seen before. On the surface three school girls meet up in later life at the funeral of the fourth member of their inseparable gang. Almost immediately we find that things are not what they seem and layer upon layer of mysteries and secrets are gradually revealed.

This could have been an unholy mess; it is full of fast talking, strong accents, every character has some pretty extreme traits and the plot is complex to the point of absurdity. But it wasn’t and the credit for that belongs to both writer and actors.

There’s a whole mix of genres involved here, Scooby-Doo style mysteries, horror, school days angst, shadowy organisations pulling strings behind the scenes, but overall and tying everything together is a broad streak of warm comedy that really hits home.

This show rewards (indeed it pretty much demands) your total attention because there is a lot going on and the three female leads are all motor-mouthed.

There’s a nice touch with a shot of the Derry Girls mural in the background, and, although there’s a very open ended set up for a follow-on series I need to give my over-stimulated brain a break first!

A great show well worth the full attention it will require.