Derry Girls star Jamie-Lee O’Donnell is set to make a new show about the history and future of the Northern Irish city.
This time the actress, who played Michelle Mallon in the global hit comedy, is going to front a documentary series about her home city.
Derry Girls focused on the lives of the teenagers during a key period in the city’s history, the build up to the Good Friday Agreement.
O’Donnell’s new series will also focus on the past and present of Derry, as well as her own upbringing in the Catholic community.
The Channel 4 series will be called ‘The Real Derry: Jamie-Lee O’Donnell’ and will focus on the Troubles and how the events of that time in history still impacts on the people today.
O’Donnell will visit her old school and speak to students about how the city has changed and she also finds out why many youngsters feel they need to leave Derry to get the opportunities such as work, skills and experiences they require.
Channel 4’s commissioning editor Daniel Fromm said: “I’m hugely excited to be working with Tyrone Productions on their first commission for Channel 4 – and with Jamie-Lee in a brand new role for her.
“Derry Girls has brought the city to national prominence; now this film gives a voice to a new generation of its young people, so they can tell us what it’s like to grow up there in 2022.”
The documentary is being made by Northern Irish company Northern Ireland’s Tyrone Productions.
Co-executive producer of Tyrone Productions Patricia Carroll explained why O’Donnell is the perfect person to front their latest project.
She said: “As a Northern Ireland company, we are delighted to be working with Channel 4 and Jamie-Lee O’Donnell on this very personal documentary at such an important time in the city’s story.
“Fiercely proud of her home city, Jamie-Lee is the perfect person to explore Derry’s past and share her hopes for its future, and we know that Channel 4 audiences will be both entertained and intrigued by what she discovers.”
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