Interview with Adrian Dunbar
An interview with Adrian Dunbar, who plays Father Peter Flaherty
Published: 12 May 2017
Jimmy is after truth and he’s after justice. Those are very powerful things to be trying to look for. They’re also very powerful things to try and stir up in people - a sense of injustice.
How did you get involved with this series?
I met Sean Bean for a drink, is how this story starts! I’ve known him for years and I hadn’t seen him for a while, so we caught up in Camden. He told me he was doing 'this piece by Jimmy McGovern', and of course the minute you hear 'Jimmy McGovern' as an actor your ears prick up.
It’s a bit like coming full circle for me, because I was in the first episode of Cracker, which was basically the show which really broke Jimmy into full-time telly and being taken extremely seriously. So of course I was very interested when Sean told me there was a part in it; a character who Father Michael comes to every now and then as a sounding board and confessor, and someone he bounces ideas off or chats to as a friend. I thought, that sounds really good, and if it’s Jimmy it’ll definitely be good! You only need to take a look at the first two or three episodes to realise how fabulous it is and what a quality piece of work it is. So it was a no-brainer for me.
Why do you think Jimmy McGovern’s writing is so successful?
First of all he’s a fabulous storyteller, and he picks fabulous stories to tell. He’s my kind of writer - an actor’s sort of writer - because he’s after truth and he’s after justice. Those are very powerful things to be trying to look for. They’re also very powerful things to try and stir up in people - a sense of injustice - either that someone’s being done an injustice or that injustices are happening to people out there.
I also think there’s a huge ‘underclass’ out there, of people who aren’t reported on because it’s not sexy or interesting to the media. So that’s why we like Jimmy’s work, because he’s constantly reminding us that there’s a world out there and you can’t ignore it.
How important is faith to this story?
It’s a hugely important part of the story insofar as that a lot of people have faith, especially people who have nothing else. That’s where faith becomes important, when you’re down there at the bottom and you don’t seem to have anything. You can at least have your faith in that there might be a next world, or a better place to go after all of this is over. So faith plays a huge part, rather than religion I think.
Series credits
Father Michael Kerrigan - Sean Bean
Christina Fitzsimmons - Anna Friel
Roz Demichelis - Paula Malcomson
Father Peter Flaherty - Adrian Dunbar
P.C Andrew Powell – Mark Stanley
Helen Oyenusi - Muna Otaru
P.C. Dawn Morris - Aisling Loftus
Daniel Martin - Danny Sapani
Carl McKenna - Ned Dennehy
Chloe Demichelis - Lauren Lyle
Jean Reid - Rochenda Sandall
Created by Jimmy McGovern
Written by Jimmy McGovern, with Nick Leather, Shaun Duggan and Colette Kane
Directed by Ashley Pearce and Noreen Kershaw
Produced by Colin McKeown and Donna Molloy
Executive producers for LA Productions - Jimmy McGovern, Colin McKeown and Sean Bean
Executive producer for the BBC - Lucy Richer
GK
