Broken (OV)

Father Michael meets Christina Fitzsimmons, a mother of three saving money for her daughter's First Communion. But when her attendance in Church sparks an unfortunate chain of events, she is left with no way to feed her children and keep a roof over their heads. Pushed to the edge when tragedy strikes, Christina makes a desperate plan to alleviate her situation. Will she go through with it, or can Father Michael offer the family a lifeline?

As the repercussions of Christina's actions start to hit home, Father Michael makes a discovery and must act fast to help Christina justify what happened to the authorities and her sister Mariella. Elsewhere Helen Oyenusi, one of Father Michael's most devoted parishioners, has a crisis when her 18 year-old son Vernon cannot adapt to home life following his discharge from the specialist care unit where he was receiving treatment for paranoid schizophrenia. Will Father Michael be there for them when they need him most?

As Vernon Oyenusi's death sends shockwaves throughout the St Nick's community, Father Michael tries to deal with his own guilt in refusing to answer Helen's phone call the night before. Seeing Helen's humility and dignity in the face of overwhelming grief, humbles and shames him, and Father Michael turns to Father Peter for advice. Should Father Michael come clean to Helen, or would his confession only add flames to the fire?

As Father Michael's mother continues to deteriorate, he tries to persuade his brothers to help shoulder the care load a bit more, but his pleas fall on deaf ears. Back at St Nick's, Roz Demichelis goes to work where her boss finally discovers her deception and is devastated at the extent of her betrayal. Given twenty-four hours grace before the police are called, Roz uses the time to make some vital preparations for her children.

Helen Oyenusi's brother, Daniel Martin, arrives from Trinidad to support his sister as she waits for the coroner to release Vernon's body for burial. But Daniel immediately ruffles feathers when he gets into an argument with Helen's neighbour, Carl, whose overt campness offends Daniel's religious sensibilities. When the confrontation turns violent, Father Michael attempts to mediate but, as a witness to Daniel's assault on Carl, he also has to consider whether or not to lie to the police about what happened.

As the Demichelis children struggle to cope without their mother, Father Michael tries to help but finds his offers rejected by a still-angry Chloe. As time passes, however, Chloe realises she has to confront what has happened if they are all to move on. In her own unique way, Chloe focuses her anger and pain on what she really blames for her mother's death - the gambling machines - and targets the betting shops themselves in a violent attempt to make her point. As Father Michael tries to save her from herself, Chloe finds encouragement from an unlikely quarter.

Go behind the scenes with cast and crew of Broken.

The cast discuss Jimmy’s gift for storytelling.

Writer Jimmy McGovern talks about the important issues within the programme.

Writer Jimmy McGovern explains the casting of Sean Bean in the lead role.

Joel Devlin, director of photography, describes the look of the show.