I am delighted to announce that EWTN will broadcast a major docudrama about Fr Doyle later this summer! Titled Bravery Under Fire, the programme is 80 minutes long, and features a number of interviews about Fr Doyle, along with re-enactments of many scenes from his life, all the way from his childhood in Dublin, his ministry as a priest, aspects of his spiritual life, and ultimately his service and death during World War 1. Fr Doyle is played by the Irish actor Brian Milligan. Many people, including myself, with an interest in Fr Doyle’s life were interviewed as part of the programme. I also had the extraordinary privilege of travelling to Belgium with the film crew to conduct more interviews and capture more footage in the area where Fr Doyle served and, ultimately, died. It was a deeply moving experience for me to visit these areas for the first time – to see Fr Doyle’s name at the memorial in Tyne Cot cemetery; to see the field where he probably died; to walk around reconstructed trenches. It brought the suffering of these soldiers to life, and it even increased my admiration for Fr Doyle’s sacrifice.
In recent years there have been several books about Fr Doyle (and a further new announcement on that score very soon…). Now there is a major docudrama. This is a sign that people are interested in his life and spirit. Campbell Miller, the producer and director of the programme, says that his hope is that Bravery Under Fire will spark renewed interest in Fr Doyle’s canonisation. May it be so!
You can read more about the docudrama here: https://insideewtn.com/2018/06/10/bravery-under-fire-the-heroic-story-of-irish-army-chaplain-father-willie-doyle/
The programme was directed and produced by the award winning film maker Campbell Miller. I have seen an initial version of the trailer for the programme, and it looks wonderful, and I will link to it here when it is publicly available. Campbell’s award-winning short film about World War II – Respite at Christmas – is below. It gives a sense of the type of war scenes we can expect to find in Bravery Under Fire.