Broken | |
---|---|
Genre | Drama |
Created by | Jimmy McGovern |
Written by | Jimmy McGovern Nick Leather Colette Kane Shaun Duggan |
Directed by | Ashley Pearce Noreen Kershaw |
Starring | Sean Bean Adrian Dunbar Anna Friel Muna Otaru Mark Stanley Aisling Loftus Paula Malcolmson Ned Dennehy Danny Sapani |
Opening theme | "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" by Nina Simone |
Ending theme | "Broken" by Ray Davies [1] |
Composers | Matthew Hall Stephen Vedmore |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 6 |
Production | |
Executive producers | Colin McKeown Jimmy McGovern Sean Bean |
Producer | Donna Molloy |
Cinematography | Joel Devlin |
Editors | Patrick Hall Kyle Ogden |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Production company | LA Productions |
Original release | |
Network | BBC One |
Release | 30 May – 4 July 2017 |
Broken is a six-part British television drama series, created by Jimmy McGovern, that first broadcast on BBC One on 30 May 2017. The series focuses on Michael Kerrigan (Sean Bean), the priest of a Roman Catholic parish in a northern English city, who despite suffering from his own troubles stemming from a traumatic childhood, tries to guide several of his most vulnerable parishioners through the trials and tribulations of everyday life.
The series was directed by Ashley Pearce and Noreen Kershaw; while Shaun Duggan, Colette Kane and Nick Leather all contributed to McGovern's scripts. The series was released on DVD on 10 July 2017. [2]
Bean won a British Academy Television Award for Best Actor while Friel was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
The series, produced by LA Productions, was commissioned in 2015; with filming taking place throughout 2016. [3]
This series was filmed in Liverpool, although the city is not directly mentioned in the series itself. [4] Some scenes are shot in trains, implying that Father Michael commutes between his Lancashire parish and his Irish mother and second-generation siblings in Sheffield. The featured church is St Francis Xavier Church, Liverpool. [5]
Episode | Title | Written by | Directed by | Viewers (millions) [6] | Original airdate | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | "Christina" | Jimmy McGovern | Ashley Pearce | 4.95 | 30 May 2017 | |
Mum-of-three Christina Fitzsimmons hits a new low after losing her job. Forced to sell her most valuable possessions, Christina begins to find that even filling the fridge on a weekly basis is becoming a struggle. When her mum unexpectedly passes away, Christina seizes the opportunity to continue claiming her state pension by failing to declare her death. However, her sister, Mariella, becomes suspicious and eventually begins to uncover the truth. Meanwhile, Father Michael Kerrigan finds that traumatic flashbacks to his childhood are becoming more and more frequent; but as he becomes aware of Christina's increasing problems, he puts his own troubles to one side to try and help her. | ||||||
2 | "Helen" | Jimmy McGovern | Ashley Pearce | 4.85 | 6 June 2017 | |
Christina is arrested and sent before the magistrate, and receives a six-month sentence, suspended for two years. A woman unknown to Father Kerrigan, Roz, approaches him in confession to express her plan to commit suicide. Having stolen £230,000 from her bosses, she fears that being found out will make her a pariah among her friends. Meanwhile, single mother Helen Oyenusi learns of her son Vernon's impending discharge from a local mental health unit, for the given reason that he is the 'least unwell' of all of the current inpatients - and a bed is urgently required. However, shortly after his release, Vernon finds himself in an armed showdown with the police which ends in tragedy. | ||||||
3 | "Andrew" | Jimmy McGovern & Nick Leather | Ashley Pearce | 4.48 | 13 June 2017 | |
The fallout of Vernon Oyenusi's death plays hard on the conscience of PC Andrew Powell, who against the advice of his superiors, gives a witness statement laying the blame for Vernon's death on the actions of fellow colleague, PC Dawn Morris. As Andrew slowly begins to discover that his friends and colleagues have turned against him, he approaches Father Michael for guidance. Torn between his principles and his friends, Andrew is forced to make a heartbreaking decision. Meanwhile, Roz decides to donate all of her worldly goods to the church charity fund as she continues with her plan to commit suicide, and Father Michael comes face to face with his former childhood abuser. | ||||||
4 | "Roz" | Jimmy McGovern & Colette Kane | Noreen Kershaw | 4.54 | 20 June 2017 | |
Roz's deception is finally uncovered when she is caught out by an undated cheque. After admitting to the theft of £232,648, Roz asks her boss to hold off calling the police so that she can spend one final night with her children. Father Michael asks Roz to make her feelings known to the church committee, not only to prevent a further betting shop opening in the parish, but in the hope that she will find some form of redemption and clear her conscience. Roz asks Father Michael to be her 'saving grace', in the event that she changes her mind and decides not to go ahead with her plan. However, she anticipates his attempt to intervene in her suicide, changing her plans and making his attempt futile. | ||||||
5 | "Carl" | Jimmy McGovern & Shaun Duggan | Noreen Kershaw | 4.42 | 27 June 2017 | |
Helen's devout brother, Daniel, having just arrived from Trinidad for his nephew Vernon's funeral, encounters homosexual neighbour Carl and clashes violently with him. Carl threatens to charge Daniel with a hate crime offence unless he apologises. Father Michael tries to mediate but it is ultimately Helen who is the peacemaker. | ||||||
6 | "Father Michael" | Jimmy McGovern | Ashley Pearce | 4.13 | 4 July 2017 | |
Father Michael confesses to Father Flaherty that he feels unsuitable as a priest, due to his painful flashbacks each time he celebrates the eucharist, and announces he will resign when his mother dies. Father Michael helps Chloe and her two teenage brothers, orphaned after their mother's suicide. Chloe angrily takes a sledge-hammer to the gambling machines to which her mother had been addicted. Father Michael fears she will end up in prison unless she stops her rampages, and therefore incites his parishioners to join in wrecking the machines. Police officer Andrew's truthful testimony in court convinces a jury that Helen's son Vernon had been unlawfully killed. Father Michael's mother dies and he conducts her funeral, where the support of the people he has saved reconciles him to his role as priest. |
The series was originally due to begin on 23 May, but the broadcast was postponed following the Manchester Arena bombing the previous night, and was replaced in the schedules by a repeat of Planet Earth II . [7] This was due to the nature of the storyline in the first episode, which focuses on mum-of-three Christina Fitzsimmons (Anna Friel), who after losing her job, resorts to keeping her mother's death a secret in order to continue claiming her state pension. [8]
Cracker is a British crime drama series produced by Granada Television for ITV, created and principally written by Jimmy McGovern. Set in Manchester, the series follows a criminal psychologist, Dr Edward "Fitz" Fitzgerald, played by Robbie Coltrane, who works with the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) to help them solve crimes.
Anna Louise Friel is an English actress. She first achieved fame with her portrayal of Beth Jordache in the British soap opera Brookside (1993–1995), and came to international prominence when she played Charlotte "Chuck" Charles on ABC's Pushing Daisies (2007–2009), for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. She won an International Emmy Award for her portrayal of the title character in the ITV/Netflix series Marcella (2016–2021). Her other accolades include a Drama Desk Award, an honorary degree, and a BAFTA nomination.
Sean Bean is an English actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Bean made his professional debut in a production of Romeo and Juliet in 1983 at The Watermill Theatre. Retaining his Yorkshire accent, he first found mainstream success for his portrayal of Richard Sharpe in the ITV series Sharpe, which originally ran from 1993 to 1997.
New Tricks is a British television police procedural comedy drama, created by Nigel McCrery and Roy Mitchell, produced primarily by Wall to Wall, and broadcast on BBC One. The programme originally began with a pilot episode on 27 March 2003, before a full series was commissioned for 1 April 2004; New Tricks concluded after twelve series on 6 October 2015. The show utilises an ensemble cast, of which Dennis Waterman was the only constant over all twelve series; this cast variously included Alun Armstrong, James Bolam, Amanda Redman, Denis Lawson, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Tamzin Outhwaite, and Larry Lamb.
Dangerfield is a British television medical drama series, first broadcast on BBC One, which described the activities of small-town doctor and police surgeon Paul Dangerfield, played by Nigel Le Vaillant. The series places particular emphasis on Dangerfield's constant struggle to manage the conflicting demands of his two jobs, to come to terms with the death of his wife Celia in a car accident a few years earlier, and to bring up his two initially teenaged, but later grown up, children, Alison and Marty. Six series of the programme were produced, broadcasting from 27 January 1995 until 19 November 1999. After Le Vaillant left the role in 1997, Dr. Jonathan Paige, played by Nigel Havers, became the new central character, after previously appearing in the final two episodes of Le Vaillant's tenure. The BBC decided to end the series in November 1999 when Havers announced his decision to quit. The BBC felt viewers would not find the series credible if the main character was changed for a second time.
Nicola Jane Walker is an English actress, known for her starring roles in various British television programmes from the 1990s onwards, including that of Ruth Evershed in the spy drama Spooks and DCI Cassie Stuart in Unforgotten (2015–2021). She has also worked in theatre, radio and film. She won the 2013 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for the play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and was twice nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for the BBC drama Last Tango in Halifax.
Shaun Duggan is a BAFTA nominated English writer based in the UK. He has repeatedly collaborated with Jimmy McGovern. He has written several plays and has worked extensively for television including Brookside and EastEnders (BBC1).
Danny Brocklehurst is an English screenwriter, playwright, and former journalist. He has won both BAFTA and Royal Television Society writing awards. He was featured in the writers' section of Broadcast magazine's Hot 100 in 2007. His Sky comedy Brassic has the highest audience appreciation score of any UK comedy.
Accused is a British television anthology series created by Jimmy McGovern. The drama series first aired on 15 November 2010 on BBC One and has run for two series. Each episode follows a different character as they await their verdict in court, and tells the story behind how they find themselves accused. The series has featured actors and actresses such as Christopher Eccleston, Benjamin Smith, Juliet Stevenson, Andy Serkis, Marc Warren, Naomie Harris, Sean Bean and Anne-Marie Duff as the accused in each episode.
HolbyBlue was a British police procedural drama series that ran for two series from 2007 to 2008. The show revolves around the daily lives of a number of police officers working at Holby South police station. The cast for series one included Jimmy Akingbola as PC Neil Parker, Joe Jacobs as PC William "Billy" Jackson, David Sterne as Sergeant Edward 'Mac' McFadden, Cal Macaninch as DI John Keenan, James Hillier as Sergeant Christian Young, Kacey Ainsworth as Inspector Jenny Black, Richard Harrington as DS Luke French, Zöe Lucker as Kate Keenan, Chloe Howman as PC Kelly Cooper, Kieran O'Brien as PC Robert Clifton, Tim Pigott-Smith as DCI Harry Hutchinson, Sara Powell as Rachel Barker and Elaine Glover as PC Lucy Slater. Velibor Topić and Julie Cox joined the cast in a recurring capacity as drug baron Neculai Stenga and Mandy French, Luke French's wife. By the end of series one, Pigott-Smith and Topic both departed the show. Series two saw the introductions of Oliver Milburn as DCI Scott Vaughan and James Thornton as Constable Jake Loughton. Stephanie Langton took over from Julie Cox in series two to continue playing the role of Mandy.
Prisoners' Wives is a BBC drama series, created and written by Julie Gearey and starring Polly Walker, Pippa Haywood, Emma Rigby, Natalie Gavin, Sally Carman and Karla Crome, with supporting cast including Iain Glen, Adam Gillen, Jonas Armstrong, Reuben Johnson, Enzo Cilenti and Owen Roe. The series centres on four very different women, each struggling to cope with a significant man in her life serving time in prison. The series is set in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Series one was six episodes long, and premiered on Tuesday 31 January 2012. Series two was a shorter run of four episodes, and began on Thursday 14 March 2013 on BBC One.
Shetland is a Scottish crime drama series made by ITV Studios for BBC Scotland. First broadcast on BBC One on 10 March 2013, it is originally based upon the novels of Ann Cleeves and adapted by David Kane. The first seven series starred Douglas Henshall as DI Jimmy Pérez, whilst Ashley Jensen stars as DI Ruth Calder from the eighth series. The cast also includes Alison O'Donnell as DS Alison "Tosh" McIntosh and Steven Robertson as DC Sandy Wilson, as well as Lewis Howden and Anne Kidd. Henshall won the 2016 BAFTA Scotland award for Best Actor and the series received the award for Best TV Drama.
LA Productions Ltd is a British independent television and film production company based in Liverpool, UK. It was founded in 2000 by Brookside co-creator, Colin McKeown MBE, and is known for producing socially-conscious television drama, most prominently for the BBC.
Banished is a British drama television serial created by Jimmy McGovern. The seven-part serial first aired on 5 March 2015 on BBC Two and was inspired by events in the eighteenth century when Britain established a penal colony in Australia.
Cuffs is a crime drama series depicting the lives of front-line police officers within Brighton and the surrounding area of Sussex serving within the fictional South Sussex Police service. The series aired on BBC One, with episode one first transmitted on 28 October 2015.
Marcella is a British Nordic noir detective series, written, directed and produced by Swedish screenwriter Hans Rosenfeldt, creator of The Bridge. The series is produced by Buccaneer Media for ITV and distributed worldwide by Buccaneer's parent company Cineflix. It was first shown on ITV on 4 April 2016, with seven further episodes released weekly.
Lewis Arnold is an English director working in television. He is best known for the shows Time, Sherwood and Des.
Requiem is a six-part British television drama serial, written and created by Kris Mrksa and directed by Mahalia Belo. It is a co-production between New Pictures for the BBC and Netflix. It first broadcast on BBC One on 2 February 2018, with all six episodes being released via BBC iPlayer on the same day.
Wing and a Prayer is a BAFTA-nominated British television legal drama series, written and created by Matthew Hall, first broadcast on Channel 5 on 22 September 1997. The series, produced by Thames Television, was described as "an inside, behind-the-scenes look at the practice of law, and the lawyers whose lives are caught up in their work with each other". Sean Arnold starred as primary character Stephen Arlington, while Rita Wolf, David Bark-Jones, Philip Martin Brown and George Irving are also credited amongst the principal cast members.
Resort to Murder is a five-part British television crime drama series, written and created by Tony McHale, first broadcast on BBC1 on 27 July 1995. The series, directed by Bruce MacDonald, follows Joshua Penny, a post-graduate student whose mother, Harriet, is herself murdered after having been the sole eyewitness to another murder. The series is set in and around Brighton.
Comment by Frankiegoestohalewoo: "The church is Saint Francis Xzavier (sic!) in Everton, on Merseyside."