3.0 out of 5 star rating
Before watching BBC Two real-life drama Danny Boy, I knew very little about the five-year Al-Sweady Inquiry. After watching Danny Boy, I can’t say I know much more about the true story behind Danny Boy.
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The BBC billed the drama as “a legal and moral conflict that takes us from the battlefield – at so-called Checkpoint Danny Boy – to the courtroom,” but unfortunately viewers see very little of the ‘legal’ aspect, and even less of the courtroom.
In fact, we never even see our central character, accused soldier Brian Wood, inside the courtroom itself. We don’t see him take the stand and deliver his testimony. We don’t see him in the dock during questioning, a tense and “humiliat[ing]” experience the real-life Wood later compared to “walking through a minefield” in a piece for The Daily Mail. Nor do we witness the full reckoning that comes later for now-disgraced solicitor Phil Shiner.
Danny Boy: What Happened to Phil Shiner? Where is the lawyer now?
Toby Jones stars as human rights lawyer Phil Shiner in Danny Boy but just what happened to him? Where is Phil Shiner now?
Danny Boy arrives on BBC Two on May 12th and tells the true story of how British soldier Brian Wood was accused of war crimes after a battle in Iraq.
The feature-length drama sees Brian (played by Anthony Boyle) embroiled in a long and complex legal battle with human rights lawyer Phil Shiner (Toby Jones).
But just what happened to Phil Shiner and where is the lawyer now in 2021?
Picture: BBC/Expectation TV/Robert Viglasky/Sophie Mutevelian
A NEW thrilling TV drama is set to hit our screens tomorrow night and it is based on a true story of a Hampshire soldier falsely accused of a war crime. Danny Boy will air tomorrow evening (May 12) at 9pm on BBC Two, depicting the story of one of Britain’s biggest ever public inquiries, the Al-Sweady. Based on real life events, the gritty 90-minute film sees Harry Potter And The Cursed Child star Anthony Boyle take on the role of Iraq War veteran Brian Wood, a soldier wrongly accused of historic war crimes.
06 May 2021 : Nathan Griffin Pauline Turner, Anthony Boyle, Leah McNamara and Alex Ferns in Danny Boy. The 90 minute film for BBC Two sees Northern Irish actor Anthony Boyle (Derry Girls) play real-life soldier Brian Wood, who is accused of war crimes in Iraq by the tenacious human rights lawyer Phil Shiner, played by Toby Jones.
The two men go head to head in a legal and moral conflict that takes us from the battlefield - at so-called Checkpoint Danny Boy - to the courtroom, and one of Britain’s biggest ever public inquiries, the Al-Sweady Inquiry.
Danny Boy is the gripping true story of a young man’s journey from hero to alleged war criminal, the determined lawyer on his tail, and their search for truth in the fog of war.
Friday, 16th April 2021 at 2:38 pm
The line between war and unlawful killing gets richly explored in BBC Two’s upcoming drama, Danny Boy.
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Starring Toby Jones and Anthony Boyle, it centres on the events following the Battle of Danny Boy in Southern Iraq in 2004 and severely questions the clash between duty and morals.
Written by Robert Jones and directed by Sam Miller, its debut is already highly anticipated.
Here’s all we know about Danny Boy so far…
When does Danny Boy air on BBC Two?
Good news – there’s not long to wait to watch Danny Boy on BBC Two, as BBC spokespeople have confirmed the 90-minute one-off drama will air this spring.