Updated 13 April: After an agonising wait, Lisa McGee’s Derry Girls finally returned to Channel 4 last night for the first episode of its third and final season – and it’s safe to say it didn’t disappoint.

From a surprise guest appearance by none other than Liam Neeson to an endless collection of laugh-out-loud moments, the first episode was, in true Derry Girls form, utterly chaotic.

So, we weren’t surprised to see that many of the show’s fans (including none other than Malorie Blackman) took to Twitter after the episode aired last night to spotlight some of their favourite moments. 

If you’re yet to catch last night’s episode, here’s an idea of what to expect. While, as usual, the episode is only 20 minutes long (oh, how we wish the episodes were longer), there’s still a lot to unpack.

As you might have gathered from the episode’s official description, the series opens with Erin, Michelle, Clare, Orla and James waiting anxiously for their GCSE results. While we don’t see the gang taking their exams, we get the impression that most of them (except Clare) did very little studying to prepare.

As a result, the group are nervous about the prospect of failing their exams and not being able to move onto sixth form – especially after the film project they’ve been working on all summer doesn’t turn out how they expected.

Not satisfied with the idea of simply waiting for their results like everybody else, the group hatch a plan to try and figure out their fate.

We won’t spoil what happens, but as you might expect, things don’t exactly go as they were intended – and the girls (plus James) find themselves coming face-to-face with some pretty serious consequences (in the form of a very exciting guest star, we might add).  

Elsewhere in the episode, we get an insight into what Granda Joe has been getting up to over the break. He has, we learn, become a pet owner – to a rather murderous stray cat called Seamus.

The cat’s ill-mannered behaviour has become the bane of Gerry’s existence, but despite his pleas for Joe to do something about it, he refuses to do anything about it – that is, until the cat takes things one step too far.

Sister Michael is also back – although she doesn’t feature too heavily in the first episode. She’s on crutches (we’re never told why, and her only response to people who ask is: “You should see the other guy.”), but she’s just as hilariously belligerent and conniving as ever.  

To summarise, the first episode of season three manages to capture every aspect of the charm, hilarity and madness that we’ve come to expect from Derry Girls – and if the first episode is an indicator of where the final season is headed, we’re certainly in for a treat. 

Check out our interview with the Derry Girls cast for more exciting details about season three.

Derry Girls episode two airs on Channel 4 next Tuesday at 9.15pm. Episode one is now available to watch on All4.

Images: Channel 4