Derry Girls is no trouble for Tommy Tiernan

Starring in Channel 4's new comedy drama Derry Girls was a "no-brainer" for the comedian Tommy Tiernan, who returns to sitcom after a 20-year hiatus.

"My name is Erin Quinn. I'm 16 years old and I come from a place called Derry." This narrated introduction to Derry Girls (C4) is not all it seems: Erin's weird cousin Orla was reading aloud from Erin's purloined diary, much to Erin's consternation.

Set in 1990s Northern Ireland and loosely based on the teen years of writer Lisa McGee (Being Human), Derry Girls is such a fresh look at growing up with the Troubles as a constant backdrop that it sometimes unsettles, although it mostly stays on the charming side of wicked. Erin (Saoirse Monica Jackson) and her friends long to break free from the conformity of their convent school, but lack the resolve for even minor defiance. "I'm not being individual on me own," says Clare.

Rounding out the group is loudmouth loose cannon Michele, who turns up to the first day of school with her English cousin James, the son of her aunt Cathy. "She went to England to get an abortion and never came back," said Michele. "Never had the abortion either."

Such difficulties as the girls face spring as much from their desire to fit in as from their attempts at rebellion, and the Troubles are presented, so far, as an inconvenience - soldiers boarding school buses, bombed bridges ruining plans - far less frightening than stone-faced headmistress Sister Michael.

You couldn't call Derry Girls nostalgic, exactly; it doesn't make me long to be the only English boy in a 90s Irish girls' school without any men's loos. But the period is recreated with care, and the script is affectionate, foul-mouthed and funny. I'm looking forward to next week.

Maiden adventure of Derry Girls leaves us wanting more

On first glance Derry Girls is warm and honest, laugh out loud funny and as a vibrant as the Derry girls it represents. Now everyone, including Queen of the Derry girls herself Nadine Coyle, can't wait until the next 'wan'.

Derry Girls: Audience buzzing for new sitcom

Social media couldn't get enough of Derry Girls - the hashtag #DerryGirls was even trending at number four worldwide on Twitter after the show's debut.

Boy trouble, parent trouble and the actual Troubles are all fodder for this promising new sitcom set in early 1990s Northern Ireland and based on the schooldays of creator Lisa McGee. Saoirse Monica Jackson stars as 16-year-old Erin, frustrated at every turn by the no-nonsense nuns, her schoolmates and family (Game of Thrones' Ian McElhinney as Granda is terrifying). The punchlines are rather sparsely spread, but the characters soon feel like old friends.

Derry Girls review

A female Inbetweeners - set during the Troubles.

TV review: Derry Girls, C4

In fact forget I ever mentioned trying to avoid mentioning Mrs Brown's Boys. Apart from the domestic inter-generational family banter there is little similarity here. It isn't even set in the same place. And there's another difference. Derry Girls is funny.

Derry Girls, episode 1 review

As much a black comedy about the Troubles as a teenage nostalgia fest.

Derry Girls preview

'Sometimes the toughest places to live are also the funniest'.

Tiernan's new C4 comedy has an Inbetweeners feel to it

It's the role Tommy Tiernan was born to play.