(TV SERIES) How to Get to Heaven from Belfast Season 1 - A Well Written and Fun Mystery Comedy Series With Wonderful Performance by Its Cast

When this series was released last week, I was in the midst of completing other series and not until I was away for holiday with my wife that I began to watch it few days ago. It took me a while to finish as I only had chance to watch at night when I was not too tired. Anyway I just completed it last night. All right then, I'll get on with the series.

Brief Story Line

Three childhood best friends that consisted of successful TV show writer Saoirse (Roisin Gallagher - Lazarus mini series, Mandrake etc), Robyn (Sinéad Keenan - Being Human TV series, Trouble With Sex etc) the mother of 3 children and Dara (Caoilfhionn Dunne - Industry TV series, In View etc) reunited when their estranged friend from high school Greta (Natasha O'Keeffe - C. B. Strike TV series, Filth etc) passed away. They decided to go to the wake to honor her despite their personal reservations.

When they arrived at the wake, the three of them suspected something related to Greta's death and decided to look into it without the knowledge of local Sergeant Liam (Darragh Hand - Heartstopper TV series etc). As the trio gathered more information, they found themselves in danger with mysterious woman named Booker (Bronagh Gallagher - Dance First, Brassic TV series etc) always making sure their investigation did not go any further.

So what would happen to Saoirse, Robyn and Dara? And what was the big mystery all about? You could find out in this series.

End of Brief Story Line

To be honest, I already noticed this series in the coming soon section of Netflix a while ago but was not really that interested as the poster and title seemed to be a heavy drama. But after I read a bit on the internet that it was a wonderful mystery comedy series, I decided to give it a try. And I am glad that I did cause it was really fun watching this with plenty of things to be enjoyed.

First the interesting characters whose interaction was truly convincing, like they were real life best friends from childhood. And then the witty conversations (as specified by Netflix that it has sharp dialogues). Finally there was the intriguing mystery with multiple plot twists which were always surprising. I found myself to be eagerly anticipating what comes next for the trio as they travelled across Ireland in search for the truth. Only thing that I was a little bit upset was the ending. Although the biggest mystery was sort of resolved, but there were few things that did not get proper closure. It was as though the writers were hoping for a second season renewal, which to me was not a guarantee for Netflix even if it is a huge success.

At the time I wrote this, there was no indication yet of the series fate, but critics were really impressed as proven by its very high rating and it did make to top 10 in some countries (not sure about globally as it was not as big of hit in Indonesia). Hence there is still a chance for it to be renewed. The series was created by Lisa McGee who was famous for her previous work of Derry Girls which was a major success when it ran from 2018-2022 in the UK. I myself thought that her writing was one of the key factor for it's entertainment value. 

Now the series was really enjoyable due to the cast performance. I really liked the three lead cast here, but the rest of them were equally nice to watch. Aside from the above, there were two more people who formed the main cast, i.e. Emmet J. Scanlan (Fool Me Once mini series, A Working Man etc) as Greta's husband/Liam's boss Owen and Michelle Fairley (Game of Thrones TV series, Whistle etc) as Greta's mother Margo. Other support cast included Selin Hizli (Things You Should Have Done TV series etc) as Jodie, Josh Finan (The Responder TV series etc) as Jason Meadows, Ardal O'Hanlon (My Hero TV series etc) as Hotel manager Seamus and many more. Credits should also be given to the casting department as they managed to find actresses to play younger version of the girls as we could easily identify them with their similar looks.

The series itself had 8 episodes with 47-56 minutes duration. I thought the episodes got better as it progressed, with the last two the best for me as they provided revelations of the whole thing. As this was the first time for me to watch a full Irish production, I also found the country & people to be interesting and made me wanted to visit in the future. Overall this is an interesting and fun series with great performance by its cast, supported by wonderful writing and great story telling. I had fun watching this series but the cliffhanger ending did not exactly give me the full satisfaction, especially if there is no renewal and left me with some things that would never be resolved. So if you are interested in such series, you are welcome to give it a try. 

Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars