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cursed child anthony boyle

Harry Potter star's new BBC drama Danny Boy looks brilliant - details 

The drama also stars Toby Jones 

Emmy Griffiths
TV & Film Editor
April 22, 2021
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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child star Anthony Boyle is set to star in a new drama, Danny Boy, which is based on a true story about a man accused of war crime in Iraq. 

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Anthony, who played Scorpius Malfoy in the hit play, will play soldier Brian Wood, who goes from a medal-winning hero to an alleged killer after being accused by human rights lawyer Phil Shiner (Toby Jones). 

WATCH: Will you be watching Danny Boy? 

The synopsis reads: "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.

"The drama richly explores the effect Brian’s experience has not just on him, but also on his family: his father and ex-soldier, Gavin, his mother Margaret, and his wife Lucy. 

anthony boyle 1

Anthony plays Brian Wood

"Memory, evidence and trauma collide, as Brian finds himself caught on the fine line between war and unlawful killing. After his service in Iraq and years of legal investigation, will he ever be able to look his family in the eye again and be the husband, father, and son, they need him to be?

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Danny Boy is an urgent and thought-provoking drama that questions what we ask of those who fight - and kill - for their country." 

toby jones

 Toby plays human rights lawyer Phil Shiner

So what happened with the case in real life? After a five-year public inquiry, it was ruled that the allegations were "deliberate lies". At the time, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said the ruling "puts to rest once and for all these shocking and, as we now know, completely baseless allegations"

A Number 10 spokesman added: "Where there are allegations of mistreatment, it is right and proper we look into and learn lessons from the past."

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