Neil Morrissey says he helped Adrian Dunbar land Line of Duty role
Neil Morrissey has said Adrian Dunbar landing the iconic role of Ted Hastings in Line of Duty is all down to him.
Actor Neil, 60, suggested his best friend Adrian would be perfect for the role while he was successfully auditioning for the part of Nigel Morton in the hit BBC1 police drama.
He said: “He will hate me telling you this but I got him the job.”
Dunbar, 64, replied: “He does claim that if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have got the job. I’m absolutely fine with him claiming that.”
The pair team up for an episode of ITV ’s DNA Journey with Morrissey especially keen to find out about his family as he was taken into care when he was just 10 years old, so feels disconnected from his family history.
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Neil, who was taken into care when he was 10, found out he is 1% Scottish and 99% Irish.
Neil says he helped Adrian land the Line of Duty role (ITV)"99%! I cannot wait to tell everyone I know," he says with a smile.
Heading to Castlecomer in southern Ireland, Morrissey discovers the battles between his ancestors the Loughlins, with another infamous local family, the Brennan’s.
Lawrence and Mary Loughlin are Morrissey's great great grandparents and were known as "hellraisers" with documents showing they had charges of assault against the Brennans.
And in 1914, his Great gran Margaret got in trouble for killing two ducks to eat, when the Brennans reported it to police.
There was also a romance that echoes Romeo and Juliet – a Loughlin girl and a Brennan boy married, moved to England and had a son, Joe.
Adrian plays Ted Hastings in the BBC drama (BBC/World Productions/Steffan Hill)This part of the story involves Morrissey's Great Great Aunt Bridget Loughlin and her husband Joseph who ran away to Newcastle and married in 1923.
But Joseph died whilst Bridget was pregnant in 1925 and his mother also died when he was young so Joe found himself down the pits aged 14.
Joe then eventually got a 'higher calling' and retrained and became a priest.
Morrissey travels with friend Dunbar to Dromantine house in County Down where Father Joe studied.
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And later in the programme, Morrissey finds himself having tea with a priest who studied with Joe and they are able to let him see Joe’s bible - his first tangible connection with a relative’s life.
Morrissey, 60, said: "It was a tragic beginning but you are very resilient when you are ten years old. I went into care and was suddenly away from my parents, my brothers and everything.
"You just learn to survive, I don't remember how, you just do it."
Holding the bible, he added: "It's nice to be able to make physical contact with something that would have been in his hands too. This is the only physical connection I've ever had, there have been no photos handed down, no history, not even a St Christopher. To be able to touch that is a special thing. I can't wait to tell my son."
DNA Journey Tuesday, 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX
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