Derry Girls (Season 3), C4

At a time when the future of Channel 4 appears uncertain, it’s fitting that yet another of its comic triumphs should bow out on a high.

Lisa McGee’s Derry Girls has flown under the radar for some time, but its final season was the subject of much anticipation. Ending a series is never easy - after all, how do you neatly resolve competing character arcs within an hour?

Over the course of its third season, Derry Girls has done a great job of quietly building towards its crescendo. There have been plenty of the madcap capers that we have come to expect from Erin, Orla, Clare, Michelle and James (see hilarious fourth episode ‘The Haunting’ for reference), but the show has also incorporated a number of deeper themes throughout its final seven episodes.

Death, romance and new beginnings are all abound as we wait to see how our protagonist’s teenage years conclude. But perhaps the biggest balancing act is saved for the final episode (‘The Agreement’), in which a dispute about competing birthday parties unfurls against the slightly more serious backdrop of the Good Friday Agreement.

Put simply, it is a majestic soiree for a show that perfectly balances nostalgia with the very relatable experience of growing up in modest surroundings. By the time you hear the final refrain of The Cranberrie’s timeless ‘Dreams’, which plays the show out for the final time, you may well shed a tear.

This is the sort of television that the UK does best - laugh-out-loud funny but with a serious point to make, and it should be protected at all costs.