York university student writes dissertation - on hit TV show Derry Girls

English and related literature student Réiltín Doherty, 21, pored over the first two series of the channel 4 sitcom to analyse the show’s themes.

She watched some episodes as many as 10 times as she explored contrast between the woes of being a teenager amid the backdrop of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

Réiltín was finally able to kick back and watch the emotional finale as a fan last week after submitting her dissertation on May 19.

And she hopes for her own blockbuster ending when she gets her results back next month for her project, titled ‘Being a Derry Girl, it’s a state of mind: Humour, Teens and the Troubles in Derry Girls’.

Réiltín said: “I watched every episode twice and I watched some up to 10 times to get screenshots and make sure I didn’t miss anything.

“I did worry I’d end up hating the show, but I still love it.

“But it felt really good to be able to shut my laptop and watch the final episode last week without analysing it. I don’t think I’ll be in a rush to re-watch it anytime soon.”

Réiltín, who grew up in Derry, said the show accurately captures how people used humour to cope during the Troubles.

She says her dad had joked with her during her first year at university, but she laughed it off and thought nothing of it.

However when the time came to submit a pitch for her dissertation at the end of her second year, she realised there a number of themes she could explore within the show.

She added: “My supervisor was really enthusiastic about it, he does a lot of work in Irish comedy and was pretty much the perfect person to guide me in writing it.

“He mentioned his partner was from Northern Ireland too so he was able to understand a lot of the appeal and the humour of the show.”

Réiltín, whose favourite character in the show was Orla, said the comedy educated viewers about the troubles.

But it did so in a way that put the lives of the teenagers at the centre of the story, which allowed audiences to relate to the characters.

She added: “When I first moved to England, the first thing people would mention is the troubles or that they had family from Ireland.

“Now the first thing they mention is Derry Girls and I love it as it’s something positive from the city to talk about.

“It has changed people’s perceptions of Northern Ireland and Derry.

“A lot of the media from Northern Ireland has been very dark and shows the violence of the Troubles really vividly. Derry Girls doesn’t.

“It’s one of the few programmes that shows the lives of ordinary people and it also shows how the Troubles, as traumatic as they were, can be funny.

“I’ve used a lot of theory around dark humour to explain that.

“I obviously didn’t grow up during the worst of it, but I still get and understand a lot of the jokes.”

Like the title characters, Réiltín attended an all-girls school run by nuns.

She recalled to The Tab how one time a hijacked van was abandoned outside her school at midnight and the police had to make sure it wasn’t a bomb.

She said: “By 6am it was confirmed safe so we were back in school by 8am.

“It didn’t even make it in the morning announcements, we just had to get on with it.

“I think Derry Girls captures that need to get on with normal life when all this very not normal stuff is going on around you very well.

“A young journalist named Lyra McKee was shot during riots just after the season two finale aired.

“The words of Bill Clinton hoping for a peaceful Derry 20 years ago are really sad when you consider lives are still in danger all this time.”