Derry Girls' third season is set to return in early 2022, according to Tara Lynne O’Neill, who plays the beloved Ma Mary in the smash-hit show.

Filming for Derry Girls' third season is "definitely happening this year,” O’Neill told the Irish Mirror

“If we leave it another year, we'll all be old-age pensioners! It will be called 'Derry Old Ones!' 

“No, we're gonna do it this year, so it will be out early next year. We're tied in for the filming date, we're shooting this year," she said.

Filming for the hit show, created by Derry native Lisa McGee, was put on hold over the past year thanks to the pandemic. McGee said last July: “We should have been shooting it now, but we obviously had to push back. So we’re kind of just waiting until it’s safe. 

“There’s a lot of stuff to work out. Our show’s quite complicated to film in these circumstances. We want to do it as well as we possibly can, we want it to be brilliant. We’re trying to figure a lot of stuff at the minute, I think we’ll get there, it’s just quite complicated.”

In January 2020, before the pandemic put a hold on everything, McGee teased what the third season of Derry Girls will look like: "In every episode, we have a new big guest star come in.

"That's really exciting, writing those. That has been good craic, looking forward to shooting all of that."

Of the main characters, McGee says: “They’re still eejits, and they still get into a lot of trouble, but they’re certainly going to grow up a little bit. There’s definitely a very personal journey that they go on.

“It’s an exciting time for them as they’re just on the cusp of adulthood.”

Despite the postponement of filming season three of Derry Girls, O'Neill tells the Mirror that she has no idea what's in store for the character.

"They wouldn't give the scripts to me because I can't hold my own water!” O’Neill said. “I can't be relied not to tell people what's going to happen. 

“I'll be the last person to get the script because they know what I'm like telling everybody!

"Well, I won't tell everybody but those one or two people will tell 10 people and then...yeah! They wouldn't trust me with it. I know nothing! I am absolutely useless!

She added: “It's just so exciting to be part of the show but you know, people do ask and I hate not having any info for people.”

To hold you over until season three, check out the best of Ma Mary on Derry Girls here: