Lisa McGee
{{short description|Screenwriter and playwright from Northern Ireland (born 1980)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lisa McGee
| birth_name = Elizabeth McGee
| image =
| birth_place = Derry, Northern Ireland
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1980|8}}
| education = Thornhill College
| alma_mater = Queen's University Belfast
| occupation = Screenwriter, playwright
| known_for = Derry Girls
| television =
| spouse = {{marriage|Tobias Beer|2015}}
| children = 2
}}
Elizabeth "Lisa" McGee (born August 1980){{Cite web |title=Profile - Lisa McGee|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0016phd |access-date=2022-05-24 |website=BBC Sounds}} is an Irish{{Cite news|url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/news/lisa-mcgee-i-had-to-defend-being-irish-41163580.html|title=Lisa McGee: I had to defend being Irish|newspaper=Belfast Telegraph}} playwright and screenwriter. McGee is the creator and writer of Derry Girls, a comedy series that began airing on Channel 4 in the UK in January 2018.{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/casting-announced-for-new-channel-4-comedy-derry-girls|title=Casting announced for new Channel 4 comedy Derry Girls - |publisher=Channel 4 - Info - Press|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170701230950/http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/casting-announced-for-new-channel-4-comedy-derry-girls|archive-date=July 1, 2017|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2019-04-09/derry-girls-writer-lisa-mcgee-series-3-james-erin/|title=Derry Girls writer Lisa McGee breaks down the series 2 finale, James and Erin's budding romance and what might happen next|last=Allen|first=Ben|date=9 April 2019|website=Radio Times|access-date=10 April 2019}} In 2018, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women.{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-46225037|title=BBC 100 Women 2018: Who is on the list?|date=19 November 2018|work=BBC News|access-date=21 November 2018}}
Early life and education
McGee was born in Derry, Northern Ireland, to Irish Catholic parents,{{Cite news |last=O'Dornan |first=David |date=December 19, 2021 |title=Lisa McGee: I had to defend being Irish |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/news/lisa-mcgee-i-had-to-defend-being-irish-41163580.html |newspaper=Belfast Telegraph}} Anne McGee, who worked in a shop, and Chris McGee, a lorry driver.{{Cite news |last=Russell |first=Anna |date=2022-06-02 |title=How the Creator of “Derry Girls” Found Humor in a Troubled Time |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/how-the-creator-of-derry-girls-found-humor-in-a-troubled-time |access-date=2024-10-08 |work=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}} She has a younger sister, Joleen.{{Cite web |last=@LisaMMcGee |date=2020-05-25 |title=Happy birthday to my wee sister Joleen. |url=https://x.com/LisaMMcGee/status/1264927464800817159 |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=X.com}}
McGee attended Thornhill College and studied drama at Queen's University Belfast.{{Cite news |date=20 December 2017 |title=Derry Girls could become TV hit - if viewers can understand them |url=https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/derry-girls-could-become-tv-hit-if-viewers-can-understand-them-36423218.html |access-date=6 April 2018 |newspaper=Belfast Telegraph}}
Career
While studying at Queen's, she wrote Jump, a dark comedy play set in Derry, which was later adapted into a film.{{Cite news |last=Russell |first=Anna |date=2022-06-02 |title=How the Creator of “Derry Girls” Found Humor in a Troubled Time |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/how-the-creator-of-derry-girls-found-humor-in-a-troubled-time |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220602221344/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/persons-of-interest/how-the-creator-of-derry-girls-found-humor-in-a-troubled-time |archive-date=2022-06-02 |access-date=2025-02-17 |work=The New Yorker |language=en-US |issn=0028-792X}}{{Cite web |last=Tsai |first=Martin |date=2013-12-06 |title=Review: 'Jump' falls short in humorless adaptation of play |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/moviesnow/la-et-mn-jump-review-20131206-story.html |access-date=2025-02-17 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} She gained an attachment the Royal National Theatre in London in 2006. In addition to Jump, McGee's other plays include The Heights, Nineteen Ninety Two, and Girls and Dolls. For Girls and Dolls she won the Stewart Parker Trust New Playwright Bursary 2007.{{cite web |title=Nick Hern Books - Girls and Dolls By Lisa McGee |url=https://www.nickhernbooks.co.uk/girls-and-dolls |website=Nick Hern Books}}{{cite web |title=Major Achievements - Tinderbox Theatre |url=http://www.tinderbox.org.uk/about-us/major-achievements/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105180338/http://www.tinderbox.org.uk/about-us/major-achievements/ |archive-date=5 January 2018 |access-date=4 January 2018 |publisher=}}
McGee created and wrote the Irish television series Raw (2008-2013) for RTÉ.{{Cite web |last=Starkey |first=Gabrielle |date=2008-03-17 |title=The Things I Haven’t Told You; Skins; On That Day |url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/the-things-i-havent-told-you-skins-on-that-day-pshqhxm2k5f |access-date=2025-02-17 |website=www.thetimes.com |language=en}}{{cite web |title=RTÉ Television - RAW |url=http://www.rte.ie/tv/raw/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090116071432/http://www.rte.ie/tv/raw/ |archive-date=16 January 2009 |access-date=12 January 2022 |website=www.rte.ie}} This was followed by a sitcom London Irish (2013), for Channel 4.{{Cite web |date=2013-11-04 |title=Derry writer’s new show premieres on Channel 4 tonight |url=https://www.derryjournal.com/what-s-on/arts-culture/derry-writer-s-new-show-premieres-on-channel-4-tonight-1-5520934 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104004554/https://www.derryjournal.com/what-s-on/arts-culture/derry-writer-s-new-show-premieres-on-channel-4-tonight-1-5520934 |archive-date=2013-11-04 |access-date=2025-02-17 |website=Derry Journal}}
She also wrote for The Things I Haven't Told You for BBC Three and the BAFTA-nominated Being Human for the BBC. Further writing credits include episodes for Golden Globe-nominated drama series The White Queen for BBC 1, Indian Summers for Channel 4, and The Deceived for Channel 5 co-written with her husband Tobias Beer.{{Cite web|last=Hardy|first=Jane|date=2020-08-05|title=Lisa McGee and husband Tobias Beer on their new television drama The Deceived|url=http://www.irishnews.com/arts/2020/08/05/news/lisa-mcgee-and-husband-tobias-beer-on-their-new-television-drama-the-deceived-2025806/|access-date=2021-01-24|website=The Irish News|language=en}}
McGee is best known as the creator and writer of Derry Girls (2018-2022), a comedy series about five teenagers growing up in the 1990s during The Troubles. The series was critically acclaimed.{{Cite news |date=2022-05-19 |title=Derry Girls finale hailed as 'a triumph' by critics |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-61506122 |access-date=2025-02-17 |language=en-GB}}{{Cite news |title=In Northern Ireland, 'Derry Girls' Balances Teen Comedy And Sectarian Conflict |url=https://www.npr.org/2019/09/10/757529881/in-northern-ireland-derry-girls-balance-teen-comedy-and-sectarian-conflict |access-date=2025-02-17 |work=NPR |language=en}}
In Summer 2023, Channel 4 green lit McGee's How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, which began filming in 2024.{{Cite news |date=2023-08-22 |title=Channel 4 green lights Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee's new series |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-66573952 |access-date=2023-10-20}}{{Cite web |last=Shafer |first=Ellise |date=2023-08-21 |title=‘Derry Girls’ Creator Lisa McGee Sets Comedy Thriller Series ‘How to Get to Heaven From Belfast’ at Channel 4 |url=https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/derry-girls-lisa-mcgee-how-to-get-to-heaven-from-belfast-channel-4-1235700966/ |access-date=2023-10-20 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}
Awards and recognition
In December 2022, McGee received the Freedom of the City of Derry.{{cite web |date=5 December 2022 |title=Lisa McGee: Derry Girls writer awarded freedom of city |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-63856911 |access-date=5 December 2022 |website=BBC News}}
In 2023, she was the winner of the British Academy Television Craft Awards.{{Cite web |last=Mary |date=2023-04-24 |title=Derry Girls’ creator Lisa McGee wins BAFTA for best Writer: Comedy |url=https://northernirelandscreen.co.uk/news/derry-girls-creator-lisa-mcgee-wins-bafta-for-best-writer-comedy/ |access-date=2024-03-15 |website=Northern Ireland Screen |language=en}}
In 2024, she was awarded the Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize.{{Cite web |date=2024-02-28 |title=Derry Girls writer Lisa McGee awarded literary peace prize |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c9e89nm79dno |access-date=2024-03-15 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}} The prize honours work promoting peace and reconciliation.
Personal life
McGee married actor Tobias Beer in 2015.{{Cite web |last=Cox |first=Emma |date=2020-08-01 |title=Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee on making Irish Spice Girls |url=https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/comedy/derry-girls-lisa-mcgee-writer-big-rt-interview/ |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=www.radiotimes.com |language=en-GB}} They live in Belfast with their two sons.{{Cite web |last=Williams |first=Zoe |date=2022-03-14 |title=‘I’ll never grow up!’ Derry Girls’ Lisa McGee on comedy, class and her new show Skint |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/mar/14/ill-never-grow-up-derry-girls-lisa-mcgee-on-comedy-class-and-her-new-show-skint |access-date=2024-10-08 |website=The Guardian}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=2313382}}
{{RTS Programme Award for Best Comedy Writer}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McGee, Lisa}}
Category:Writers from Derry (city)
Category:People educated at Thornhill College
Category:Women screenwriters from Northern Ireland
Category:Women television writers from Northern Ireland
Category:Alumni of Queen's University Belfast
Category:21st-century dramatists and playwrights from Northern Ireland
Category:21st-century women writers from Northern Ireland
Category:Women dramatists and playwrights from Northern Ireland