How To Be A Priest

Father Denis Blackledge on how he’s helped Sean Bean play a thoroughly-modern Catholic priest in Broken

- Caren Clark

'I didn’t think I’d ever have “religious adviser to Sean Bean” on my CV,’ smiles Father Denis Blackledge as TV Times chats to him about the crucial role he’s played in bringing Jimmy McGovern’s gritty drama Broken to the screen.

The BBC1 series, which concludes this week, has seen Sean turn in a powerhouse performance as Father Michael Kerrigan, who has helped his parishioners face everything from suicide to homophobia while dealing with horrifying flashbacks to his own traumatic past.

To prepare for the role, both Sean and Jimmy sought the advice of Father Denis, who is the parish priest at Liverpool’s St Francis Xavier church, which was used to film many of the scenes set at Father Michael’s fictional church, St Nick’s.

‘They wanted to use my church as it’s where Jimmy was brought up so I was just in the right place at the right time,’ says Father Denis, 74.