“How to Get to Heaven From Belfast,” the new series from “Derry Girls” creator Lisa McGee, has moved to Netflix from Channel 4.
Produced by Hat Trick Productions, the comedy thriller will start shooting in Northern Ireland later this year.
The project was announced by Channel 4 in August 2023. In a statement to Variety, the network cited “changes in editorial direction” and “rising costs” as to why the series could no longer move forward there.
“We loved Lisa McGee’s ‘How to Get to Heaven From Belfast’ and offered a substantial license fee to be its U.K. home,” a Channel 4 spokesperson said. “Unfortunately due to changes in editorial direction as the development process progressed, coupled with rising costs and the recent cooling in the U.S. co-production market, it became impossible to get the right international partner and funding plan in place. We wish Lisa and Hat Trick Productions all the best and look forward to working together on future projects.”
“How to Get to Heaven From Belfast” is an eight-part series following longtime friends Saoirse, Robyn and Dara. “Clever, chaotic TV writer Saoirse, glamorous, stressed-out mother of three Robyn and dependable, inhibited carer Dara have been a tight-knit group since school. Now in their late 30s, but still as close as ever, these three friends are about to embark on the most thrilling adventure of their lives,” the show’s synopsis reads. “When an email arrives, telling them about the death of the estranged fourth member of their childhood gang, Greta, a series of eerie events at her wake set them on a dark, dangerous and hilarious odyssey through Ireland and beyond as each tries to piece together the truth of the past. A show about friendship, memory and what happens when life doesn’t turn out quite like you’d expected.”
Michael Lennox (“Derry Girls,” “Say Nothing”) serves as director. Executive producers include McGee, Lennox, Caroline Leddy (“Derry Girls”, “The Inbetweeners”), Liz Lewin (“Derry Girls,” “The Lovers”) and Jimmy Mulville.
