Broken (British TV series)

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.

Bean won a British Academy Television Award for Best Actor while Friel was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

Main

 * Sean Bean as Father Michael Kerrigan
 * Adrian Dunbar as Father Peter Flaherty
 * Anna Friel as Christina Fitzsimmons
 * Muna Otaru as Helen Oyenusi
 * Mark Stanley as PC Andrew Powell
 * Aisling Loftus as PC Dawn Morris
 * Paula Malcomson as Roz Demichelis
 * Ned Dennehy as Karl McKenna
 * Danny Sapani as Daniel Martin

Supporting

 * Clare Calbraith as Mariella Fitzsimmons
 * Paul Copley as Joe Kerrigan
 * Iain Hoskins as Policeman
 * Vanessa Earl as Beth Kerrigan
 * Steve Garti as Eddie Kerrigan
 * Jerome Holder as Vernon Oyenusi
 * Lauren Lyle as Chloe Demichelis
 * David McClelland as Christopher Kerrigan
 * Faye McKeever as Caroline Powell
 * Eileen Nicholas as 'Nan' Fitzsimmons
 * Naomi Radcliffe as Pauline Pickering
 * Sam Rintoul as Young Michael Kerrigan
 * Rochenda Sandall as Jean Reid
 * Matthew Wilson as PC Ian Wakefield

Production and filming
The series, produced by LA Productions, was commissioned in 2015; with filming taking place throughout 2016.

This series was filmed in Liverpool, although the city is not directly mentioned in the series itself. 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.

Broadcast
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. 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.