Netflix has officially canceled How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, the high-profile comedic thriller from Derry Girls creator Lisa McGee. The decision comes after the eight-part series, produced by Hat Trick Productions, failed to find a global audience despite achieving significant dominance in its home territories.
The series followed a group of friends entangled in a mystery, blending McGee’s signature Northern Irish wit with a darker, suspenseful narrative. While the show was a breakout hit in local markets, it appears to have hit a “global wall” that ultimately dictated its fate at the streaming giant.
The Domestic-Global Divide
According to viewership data from BARB and overnights.tv, How to Get to Heaven from Belfast performed exceptionally well in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The series reached the number one spot on Netflix in Ireland, maintaining that position for 26 days. In the UK, it held the top spot for 20 days, with the opening episode drawing 1.8 million viewers within its first seven days of availability.
However, this domestic success did not translate to the United States, a critical market for Netflix’s renewal internal metrics. The series failed to break into the U.S. Top 10 chart at any point during its run. This performance gap highlights a recurring challenge for regional comedies: while the specific cultural nuances and dialogue resonated deeply with Irish and British audiences, the “international gap” proved too wide for the series to achieve the scale required for a second season.
The cancellation marks a shift in the show’s trajectory, which began as a Channel 4 commission in 2023. The project moved to Netflix in 2024 following shifts in editorial direction and budget at the UK broadcaster. While Netflix provided the platform for the show to reach over 190 countries, the lack of traction in North America appears to have been the deciding factor in the streamer’s choice not to move forward.
Lisa McGee and Netflix: What’s Next?
Despite the end of How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, the creative partnership between Lisa McGee and Netflix remains intact. McGee is already moving into development on a new project for the streamer titled Jig.
The upcoming series is described as a mockumentary, shifting away from the thriller elements of her previous work and returning to a format that may more closely align with the character-driven humor of her earlier successes. Production on Jig is currently scheduled to begin in 2027.
Industry analysts suggest that while How to Get to Heaven from Belfast struggled to bridge the cultural divide in a thriller format, the mockumentary style of Jig could offer a more accessible entry point for international viewers. For now, McGee’s focus remains on her next collaboration with Netflix, even as one of Ireland’s most anticipated domestic hits concludes its run after a single season.
