Lisa McGee

Last updated

Lisa McGee
BornAugust 1980 (age 43)
Derry, Northern Ireland
Education Thornhill College
Alma mater Queen's University Belfast
Occupation(s)Screenwriter, playwright
Known for Derry Girls
Spouse Tobias Beer

Elizabeth "Lisa" McGee (born August 1980) [1] is an Irish [2] 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. [3] [4] In 2018, she was listed as one of BBC's 100 Women. [5]

Contents

Career

She was writer on attachment with the Royal National Theatre in London in 2006. Her plays include Jump, The Heights, Nineteen Ninety Two, and Girls and Dolls, for which she won the Stewart Parker Trust New Playwright Bursary 2007. [6] [7]

McGee's television credits include The Things I Haven't Told You for BBC Three, [8] the Irish television series Raw which she created for RTÉ, [9] time as a writer for three series of the BAFTA-nominated Being Human for the BBC, the Channel 4 sitcom London Irish, which she created, writing for the 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. [10] Her stage play Jump has been adapted into a film.

In Summer 2023, Channel 4 green lit McGee's "How To Get To Heaven From Belfast" for broadcast in 2024. [11] [12]

Personal life

McGee was born in Derry, Northern Ireland to Irish Catholic parents, [13] Chris and Anne McGee. [1] She studied at Thornhill College and then studied drama at Queen's University Belfast. [14]

She is married to actor Tobias Beer. [14]

In December 2022 she received the Freedom of the City of Derry. [15]

Awards

In 2024 McGee was awarded the 2022-23 literary award Christopher Ewart-Biggs Memorial Prize. [16] The prize honours work promoting peace and reconciliation.

In 2023 McGee was the winner of the British Academy Television Craft Awards. [17]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Profile - Lisa McGee". BBC Sounds. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  2. ↑ "Lisa McGee: I had to defend being Irish". Belfast Telegraph.
  3. ↑ "Casting announced for new Channel 4 comedy Derry Girls -". Channel 4 - Info - Press. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017.
  4. ↑ Allen, Ben (9 April 2019). "Derry Girls writer Lisa McGee breaks down the series 2 finale, James and Erin's budding romance and what might happen next". Radio Times. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  5. ↑ "BBC 100 Women 2018: Who is on the list?". BBC News. 19 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  6. ↑ "Nick Hern Books - Girls and Dolls By Lisa McGee". Nick Hern Books.
  7. ↑ "Major Achievements - Tinderbox Theatre". Archived from the original on 5 January 2018. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  8. ↑ THE THINGS I HAVEN'T TOLD YOU - TX Trailer. YouTube . Archived from the original on 11 December 2021.
  9. ↑ "RTÉ Television - RAW". www.rte.ie. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  10. ↑ Hardy, Jane (5 August 2020). "Lisa McGee and husband Tobias Beer on their new television drama The Deceived". The Irish News. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  11. ↑ "Channel 4 green lights Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee's new series". BBC News. 22 August 2023. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  12. ↑ Shafer, Ellise (21 August 2023). "'Derry Girls' Creator Lisa McGee Sets Comedy Thriller Series 'How to Get to Heaven From Belfast' at Channel 4". Variety. Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  13. ↑ O'Dornan, David (19 December 2021). "Lisa McGee: I had to defend being Irish". Belfast Telegraph .
  14. 1 2 "Derry Girls could become TV hit - if viewers can understand them". Belfast Telegraph. 20 December 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
  15. ↑ "Lisa McGee: Derry Girls writer awarded freedom of city". BBC News. 5 December 2022. Retrieved 5 December 2022.
  16. ↑ "Derry Girls writer Lisa McGee awarded literary peace prize". BBC News. 28 February 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  17. ↑ Mary (24 April 2023). "Derry Girls' creator Lisa McGee wins BAFTA for best Writer: Comedy". Northern Ireland Screen. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
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