Orla looking gormless, Michelle kissing boys and Clare stressing about exams: all of these are things we saw coming in the third and final season of Derry Girls. But one moment that wasn’t on our bingo cards? A cameo from Liam Neeson.
That’s right, after three years of waiting, Derry Girls finally returned to our screens on Tuesday and – with absolutely no warning from the trailer – Neeson was there acting alongside Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Louisa Harland, Nicola Coughlan, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, and Dylan Llewellyn.
For reasons we won’t divulge in the name of spoilers, Erin, Orla, Clare, Michelle, and James have landed themselves in the back of the police van. In the episode, Neeson plays the officer in charge of quizzing them in an interrogation room.
‘Okay ladies, I’d just like to ask you a few questions,’ he says in his instantly recognisable Ballymena accent as Clare looks terrified and Michelle tells him: ‘Nice uniform.’
Obviously, Twitter lost its mind at Neeson’s unexpected arrival. ‘The gasps out of everyone when Liam Neeson came on screen,’ wrote one viewer, while another called it ‘the best kept secret in Derry.
‘When you think it’s Ted Hastings and then his face coms out of the shadow and it’s LIAM NEESON,’ added another speechless fan.
‘I was delighted to be able to play a wee part of the final series of Derry Girls,’ Neeson said of his role in the comedy. ‘I'm a huge fan of the series, the talented Lisa McGee's incredible writing and the superb ensemble cast.
‘It’s such a unique and special show with real heart,’ he continued ‘[It’s] amazing to see the lives or ordinary, funny people living in Northern Ireland during The Troubles…It was lovely to be back filming there and having fun with them all.’
The show's creator Lisa McGee also took to Twitter to reveal some inside information about Neeson’s cameo. ‘Thanks for watching lads!’ she wrote to fans. ‘Our code name for Liam during the shoot was ‘the big fella’ arguably quite an easily cracked code. What an honour to have him in our wee show. Our very own Northern Star.’
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