Extraordinary: Love Derry Girls? You’re going to adore this new Disney+ series

REVIEW: Jen’s (Máiréad Tyers) latest job interview is not going well.

Having admitted to being on anti-depressants and that her tampon may have come out, she also confesses to being stubborn, argumentative, jealous and cripplingly lazy.

“I only wash my hands if someone else is in the bathroom, I don’t think I’m capable of love – and I’m worried I’m a little bit racist.”

Not that Jen really had much of a choice in these disclosures, after all, the interviewer has the ability to compel others to reveal their darkest secrets.

Welcome to Extraordinary (which begins streaming on Disney+ on the evening of January 25), a world where everyone over the age of 18 has a superpower. Everyone that is – except 25-year-old Jen. Flatmates Kash (Bilal Hasna) and Carrie (Sofia Oxenham) are able to turn back time and channel the dead respectively, while her “boyfriend” Luke (Ned Porteous) can fly.

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For Jen, the only thing worse than not having found her “talent” yet is the “sympathy” she gets from her family.

She is not looking forward to everyone gathering for her already uber-talented little sister Andy’s (Safia Oakley-Green) 18th birthday, especially as the expectation is that her power will become almost instantly obvious. So it’s not surprising Jen lashes out as her mother Mary (Siobhan McSweeney) holds court during the big night, while attempting to strike the right ambience with the background noise.

“Being able to control technology is only useful if you know how technology works,” Jen chides.

However, after a less-than-satisfying encounter with an online date who claims to have the ability to make people orgasm with a single touch, Jen decides she needs help.

But, with the cost of getting the Discovery Clinic to help her bring out her power rather prohibitive, she might just have to resort to more potentially haphazard “experiments”.

With its edgy humour, eclectic soundtrack, plethora of Emerald Isle accents, bittersweet narrative and colourful characters, it’s hard not to compare young screenwriter Emma Moran’s series to another crowd-pleasing coming-of-age comedy – Derry Girls.

Sure the content skews a little bit older and there’s not the same nostalgic appeal as that ‘90s-set series, but the jokes come thick and fast, the actors delivering the one-liners with aplomb. Moran certainly milks the superpower conceit for all it’s worth, especially as viewed by cynical 20-somethings. “They don’t just use me for my powers,” laments Carrie about her work at a legal firm. “They also ask me to make teas and coffees – I’m basically an appliance.”

Meanwhile, at Jen’s current dead-end job at Party Hamlet, her boss Angela opines about the downside of being so youthful looking: “I’m 56 – and I can’t get paracetamol at Asda.”

At its heart though, Extraordinary is Jen’s story and Belfast’s Tyers makes for a charismatic and compelling lead. Jen might still be searching for her superpower, but Tyers is certainly blessed with pitch-perfect comedic timing.

Extraordinary begins streaming on Disney+ at 9pm tonight (Wednesday, January 25).