The Fiery Priest

The Fiery Priest
Promotional poster for season 2
Hangul
열혈사제
Hanja
熱血司祭
Literal meaningHot Blooded Priest
Revised RomanizationYeolhyeolsaje
Genre
Written byPark Jae-beom
Directed by
Starring
Music byGaemi
Country of originSouth Korea
Original languageKorean
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes24
Production
Producers
  • Ahn Jae-hyun
  • Shin Sang-yoon
Camera setupSingle-camera
Running time35 minutes[a]
Production companies
Budget₩9.3 billion (season 1)[2]
Original release
NetworkSBS TV
ReleaseFebruary 15, 2019 (2019-02-15) –
present

The Fiery Priest (Korean: 열혈사제) is a 2019 South Korean television series starring Kim Nam-gil, Kim Sung-kyun, and Lee Hanee with Ko Jun and Keum Sae-rok in the first season, and Sung Joon, Seo Hyun-woo, and Kim Hyeong-seo in the second season. It was the first drama to air on SBS TV's Fridays and Saturdays timeslot. The first season was aired from February 15, to April 20, 2019, at 22:10 (KST),[3][4] with a total of 20 episodes.[a] The second season premiered on November 8, 2024, at 22:00 (KST).[6]

The Fiery Priest is the highest rated miniseries drama that aired in 2019 on public broadcast according to Nielsen Korea.[7] The drama was a huge success and was one of the most popular dramas aired in 2019. Kim Nam-gil won numerous accolades for his portrayal of a priest with anger management issues. The action comedy drama also featured parodies from other movies and dramas, notably from Mr. Sunshine, Nameless Gangster: Rules of the Time, The Matrix, Reply 1988 and Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds.

Synopsis

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Following the mysterious death of an elderly Catholic priest, an NIS agent turned Catholic priest attempts to bring the culprits involved before law. The hilarious journey in taking down the gangsters and corrupt officials in the city is what follows. The journey is not so smooth when the corrupt prosecutor of the city refuses to cooperate.

Cast

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Main

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An ex-NIS agent who retired after an accident that happened during his last mission. He met Father Lee and eventually decided to take the path as a priest and hoped for his sins to be forgiven. He was very close to Father Lee and thus is crazy to punish those who killed him. On the contrary to a priest, he is a short-tempered person who would throw a fit each minute.
A clumsy detective who is a pushover and always manipulated by his superintendent and seniors. Once a dedicated police, his life changed after the death of his former partner.
A corrupt prosecutor who covered up the crimes of Gudam's administrators including the police chief and head borough. She likes Hae-il for his good-looking face but constantly bickers with him.
A corrupt businessman who is the step-brother of Gudam's Head of Borough. He runs Daebum Trading and trade illegal things within. Once ranked as number two gangster in Yeosu, he often uses violence to achieve his goal.
A rookie detective at Gudam Police Station who is dedicated in helping Hae-il to reveal the truth behind Fr. Lee's death. She secretly has a crush on Hae-il.

Supporting

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Local cartel

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  • Jeong Young-ju as Jung Dong-ja
Gudam's Head of Borough and Hwang Cheol-bum step-sister.
  • Kim Hyung-mook as Kang Seok-tae
Chief prosecutor of Gudam and boss of Park Kyung-sun.
Gudam Police Station's corrupt superintendent and leader of Rising Sun, a nightclub with connections to the cartel.
  • Han Gi-jung as Park Won-moo
A corrupt assemblyman representing Gudam.
A con-artist and the leader of a religious cult "Maegak".
Leader of the Russian gang.

People at the Cathedral and believers

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He is looked up as a father figure by Kim Hae-il and is a wise, soft-spoken man. His murder was touted as a suicide.
A gentle young priest at Gudam's Church. He trained to replace Fr. Lee's position after his death. His real name is Han Woo-ram, a famous child actor who starred in an old, popular drama prior to becoming a priest.
Head nun at Gudam's church who constantly worry about Hae-il boldness in finding the truth. She is revealed to be a former well-known gambler nicknamed Ten-Tailed Fox who blamed herself for her brother's death.
  • Ahn Chang-hwan as Song Sac
A young man from Thailand who came to Gudam and work as a delivery boy to support his family. He was often bullied by Jang-ryeong for being a foreigner and best-friend with Oh Yo-han.
A cheerful yet chubby part-timer who majored in astronomy but struggles to make a living. He did many part-time work and is best friend with Song Sac.
A psychiatrist.

People at the Police Station

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  • Shin Dam-soo as Lee Myung-soo
  • Jeon Jeong-gwan as Heo Lig-gu
  • Ji Chan as Na Dae-gil
  • Kim Kwan-mo as Kim Kyung-ryul

Others

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Former NIS agent and Hae-il's team leader.
  • Lee Je-yeon as Kim Hoon-suk
  • Eum Moon-suk as Jang-ryong
  • Kim Joon-ha as altar boy
  • Lim Seung-min as altar boy
  • Ok Ye-rin as Lim Ji-eun
  • Young Ye-na as Hyun-joo
  • Jo Ah-in as Eun-ji
  • Choi Kwang-je as Anton
  • Jung Jae-kwang as Kim Keon-yong
  • Jeon Eun-mi as Wangmat Foods staff
  • Heo Jae-ho as Gi Hong-chan
The CEO of Great Taste Foods and Yong-moon's cousin.
  • Kang Un as Wangmat Foods manager
  • Lee Gyu-ho as Choco
A large chef who works at "Great Taste Foods" and acts as the muscle. Despite his towering size, he is easily knocked out by Hae-il but reemerges as backup later on.
  • Cha Chung-hwa as Ahn Dul-ja
  • Yoo Kyung-ah as nursery nun
  • Song Young-hak as former detective

Special appearances

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  • Lee Young-bum as Father Kang Matthew
  • Lee Ki-young as Oh Jung-kook
  • Hwang Bum-shik as Kyung-sun’s father
  • Jung Shi-ah as Maegakkyo believer
  • Kim Jong-goo as Kim Jong-chul
  • Yoo Seung-mok as Oh Kwang-du
  • Jang Ye-won as news announcer
  • Kwon Hyeok-soo as President of the Republic of Korea[8]
  • Kim Hong-fa as Lee Seok-yoon
  • Byun Joo-eun as Kim Geom-sa
  • Park Eun-kyung as announcer
  • Kim Won-gi as prosecutor
  • Bang Jun-ho as planning manager

Production

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Promotional poster incorporating several notable characters from the first season.

The first script reading took place on October 26, 2018 at the SBS Ilsan Production Center in Tanhyun, South Korea.[9]

The Fiery Priest was first scheduled to air as a Monday-Tuesday drama following My Strange Hero, but due to SBS deciding to cancel the weekend special drama time slot (Saturday nights at 21:05 KST) after Fates & Furies, it became the network's first Friday-Saturday night drama. Haechi was then chosen to follow My Strange Hero.[10]

This series marks Lee Myung-woo's last project for SBS, after 12 years of partnership. In October 2019, he moved to Taewon Entertainment.[11]

Original soundtrack

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The Fiery Priest OST
Soundtrack album by
Various artists
Recorded2019
GenreSoundtrack
Language
Label

Part 1

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Released on February 22, 2019 (2019-02-22)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Our Neighbourhood HERO" (우리동네 HERO)
  • Hong In-ho
  • Kim Soo-jung
  • Go Jin-young
  • Lee Jin-ho
Norazo3:11
2."Our Neighbourhood HERO" (Inst.) 
  • Go Jin-young
  • Lee Jin-ho
 3:11
Total length:6:22

Part 2

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Released on March 8, 2019 (2019-03-08)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Breeze"HaNaZigZag NotePunch (feat. Gree)3:53
2."Breeze" (Inst.) ZigZag Note 3:53
Total length:7:46

Part 3

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Released on March 29, 2019 (2019-03-29)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Fighter"
  • Ra.L
  • La.Q
GaemiJung Dong-ha (feat. La.Q)2:56
2."Fighter" (Inst.) Gaemi 2:56
Total length:5:52

Part 4

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Released on April 5, 2019 (2019-04-05)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Paradise"
  • Chin Chilla
  • Lee Myung-woo
  • Park Yoon-seo
  • Gaemi
Chin Chilla (feat. Ga Eun)2:52
2."Paradise" (Inst.) 
  • Park Yoon-seo
  • Gaemi
 2:52
Total length:5:44

Part 5

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Released on April 12, 2019 (2019-04-12)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Joy"Andy PlattsAndy PlattsAndy Platts3:54
2."Joy" (Inst.) Andy Platts 3:54
Total length:7:48

Part 6

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Released on April 19, 2019 (2019-04-19)
No.TitleLyricsMusicArtistLength
1."Victory"Ra.L
  • Gaemi
  • earattack
Kim Yeon-ji2:54
2."Victory" (Inst.) 
  • Gaemi
  • earattack
 2:54
Total length:5:48

Viewership

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The Fiery Priest : South Korea viewers per episode (millions)
EpisodesEpisode number
12345678910111213
Ep.1–131.8522.3541.6492.1702.2962.7762.3972.9212.5223.1942.5573.1932.571
Ep.14–262.9902.5083.3042.6873.2602.7073.6102.6883.1272.8053.4672.8383.414
Ep.27–392.9843.5122.7973.6393.3443.7663.0173.8633.5784.0763.1464.0013.693
Ep.40–524.3252.2122.0011.984TBDTBDTBDTBDTBDTBDTBDTBDTBD
Source: Audience measurement performed nationwide by Nielsen Media Research.[12][13]

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref.
2019 55th Baeksang Arts Awards Best Actor Kim Nam-gil Nominated [14]
Busan International Film Festival Best Actor Won
Korean Broadcasters Association Awards Won
14th Seoul International Drama Awards Excellent Korean Drama The Fiery Priest Won [15]
Best Actor Kim Nam-gil Won
12th Korea Drama Awards Best Drama The Fiery Priest Nominated [16]
Best Screenplay Park Jae-bum Nominated
Star of the Year Award Go Jun Won
Popular Character Award (Male) Ahn Chang-hwan Won
32nd Grimae Awards Best Actor Kim Nam-gil Won [17]
Best Picture (Drama) Yoon Dae-young, Park Jong-ki Won
SBS Drama Awards Grand Prize (Daesang) Kim Nam-gil Won [18]
Top Excellence Award, Actor in a Mid-length Drama Nominated
Top Excellence Award, Actress in a Mid-length Drama Lee Hanee Won
Excellence Award, Actor in a Mid-length Drama Kim Sung-kyun Won
Best Supporting Team The Fiery Priest Won
Best Supporting Actor Go Jun Won
Wayve Award The Fiery Priest Won
Producer's Award Kim Nam-gil Nominated
Best New Actor Eum Moon-suk Won
Best New Actress Keum Sae-rok Won

Notes

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  1. ^ a b In order to circumvent Korean laws that prevent commercial breaks in the middle of an episode, what would previously have been aired as single 70 minute episodes are now being repackaged as two 35 minute episodes, with two episodes being shown each night with a commercial break between the two.[5]
  2. ^ Due to some ratings not recorded, the exact average rating is unknown.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Lee, Jun-su (April 25, 2024). '열혈사제2' 김남길-이하늬-김성균-비비…메가 히트작의 귀환 [‘The Fiery Priest 2’ Kim Nam-gil, Lee Ha-nui, Kim Sung-gyun, Vivi… The return of a mega hit]. etnews (in Korean). Retrieved April 25, 2024 – via Naver.(season 2)
  2. ^ "삼화네트웍스 '열혈사제', SBS와 약 93억원 규모 드라마 공급계약 체결" [Samhwa Networks’ ‘The Fierce Priest’ signs a drama supply contract worth approximately 9.3 billion won with SBS]. 서울경제TV SEN (in Korean). Retrieved 2023-12-29.
  3. ^ ‘열혈사제’ 김남길, 까칠함+깡으로 무장 ‘핫’한 카톨릭 사제. OSEN (in Korean). January 1, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  4. ^ "[단독] SBS '열혈사제', 금토 10시 편성 확정...'정법' 이동". Sports Donga (in Korean). Naver. January 19, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  5. ^ Park, Jin-hai (May 16, 2017). "Drama viewers angry over commercial breaks". The Korea Times. Retrieved April 17, 2020 – via PressReader.
  6. ^ Won, Sung-yoon (October 10, 2024). [공식] 가슴이 웅장해지는 ‘열혈사제2’ 김남길-이하늬-김성균 조합…‘지옥판사’ 후속 11월 8일 방영 [[Official] The combination of Kim Nam-gil, Lee Ha-nui, and Kim Sung-kyun in 'The Fiery Priest 2' that makes your heart swell...'Judge of Hell' follow-up to be aired on November 8] (in Korean). Sports Seoul. Retrieved October 17, 2024 – via Naver.
  7. ^ 최재경. "'열혈사제' 2019년 미니시리즈 단연 1위...기승전열혈사제". 서울경제 (in Korean). Retrieved 29 November 2019.
  8. ^ "SBS '열혈사제'에 등장한 문재인 대통령 꼭 닮은 배우의 정체 (영상)". Fomos (in Korean). February 24, 2019.
  9. ^ "[DAY컷] 김남길X김성균X이하늬 코믹 케미...'열혈사제' 대본리딩 공개". Sports Donga (in Korean). January 17, 2019. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  10. ^ "SBS 측 "'열혈사제' 첫 금토극 편성, '운명과 분노' 후속"(공식입장)". Newsen (in Korean). Naver. December 14, 2018. Retrieved January 19, 2019.
  11. ^ "[공식]'열혈사제' 이명우 PD, SBS퇴사→'편의점 샛별이' 연출". Sports Chosun (in Korean). Naver. October 15, 2019. Retrieved December 22, 2019.
  12. ^ a b "Nielsen Korea" (in Korean). Retrieved February 16, 2019.
  13. ^ a b Nielsen Korea ratings:
    • "Ep. 1" (in Korean). November 8, 2024. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
    • "Ep. 2" (in Korean). November 9, 2024. Retrieved November 10, 2024.
    • "Ep. 3" (in Korean). November 15, 2024. Retrieved November 16, 2024.
  14. ^ ""오늘을 살아가세요" 김혜자, 후배들 울린 눈부신 수상소감". JoongAng Ilbo (in Korean). 2 May 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  15. ^ "Seoul International Drama Awards 2019 Winners". seouldrama.org. August 29, 2019. Archived from the original on August 29, 2019. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  16. ^ "'2019코리아드라마어워즈(KDA)' 연기대상 후보..김해숙·최수종·염정아·조정석 등". Sedaily (in Korean). September 27, 2019.
  17. ^ Kim, Eun-gu (3 December 2019). 김남길·정유미 '2019 그리메상' 최우수 연기자 선정 [Namgil Kim and Yumi Jeong selected as the best performers of the '2019 Grime Awards']. E Daily (in Korean). Archived from the original on April 18, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2019 – via Naver.
  18. ^ Kim, Soo-hyung (January 1, 2020). "'열혈사제' 김남길, 대상으로 '8관왕' 기염‥'VIP' 장나라, 프로듀서상 (종합) [2019 SBS 연기대상]". Osen (in Korean). Archived from the original on December 31, 2019. Retrieved January 1, 2020 – via Naver.
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