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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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]
^ abIn 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]
^Due to some ratings not recorded, the exact average rating is unknown.
^ abcdLee, 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)
^"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.
^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.
^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.
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