CHANNEL 4 comedy Derry Girls own the Radio Times Comedy Champion title after nail-biting battle with rival Inside No 9.
Derry fans of the comedy, written by local girl Lisa McGee, were ferociously battering their keyboards in a final bid to make Derry Girls the overall winner.
And at the final count the result could not have been closer: Derry Girls just sneaked home with 50.1% to Inside No 9’s 49.9%.
That meant that almost 1 million people cast their votes.
Fans of Derry Girls clicked a staggering 462,946 times while Inside No 9’s fans cast a 461,140 votes.
Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton, creators of Inside No 9, and Derry Girls writer, Lisa McGee, watched on the edge of their seats and took to Twitter to vent their nervous energy.
As it drew to a close, Steve Pemberton tweeted: ‘No one deserves to lose – shall we call it a draw Girls?’ and Lisa McGee answered, ‘We should have done that at the start. This is barbaric xx’
When the final result came through, Iniside No 9’s Reece Shearsmith thanked their fans for their efforts on Twitter: ‘Thank you for all your efforts. It was a kind of collective madness, but now it’s all fine again. Rest your hands’.
Lisa McGee delighted that Derry Girls wins best comedy series in Radio Times online poll
This morning Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council John Boyle tweeted: “Well done #DerryGirls and @LisaMMcGee winners of Radio Times Best Comedy Show. 👏👏-special thanks for all your votes.”
Radio Times congratulated Derry Girls by tweeting: ‘Well, it’s OFFICIAL! Congratulations to our Comedy Champions #DerryGirls!
“And a massive well done to #InsideNo9 for an absolutely incredible final.
“You’re ALL Champions! Now give those eyes and clicking fingers a well deserved rest!”
The second series of Derry Girls will start early in 2019 with filming due to start this October.
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