Film Synopsis & General Information

"The Curious Works of Roger Doyle" is a feature documentary which looks at the life's work of Irish composer Roger Doyle as he gets a chance to stage one of his most ambitious musical projects; his first electronic opera. Presented with this opportunity, late in life, it is, perhaps, Roger's last chance to bring his music to a wider audience. As the film observes the preparations for the opera, it takes a trip through the unique music of the "Godfather of Irish electronica" and features contributions from his many collaborators such as actress Olwen Fouere, theatre director Selina Cartmell and some of Ireland's first wave of pioneering filmmakers from the 1970s and 1980s - Joe Comerford, Bob Quinn and Cathal Black.

The film features a wide range of rare Irish TV and film archive material covering four decades of Roger's musical work and was completed thanks to funding from Screen Ireland.

The film was shot over 10 years by director Brian Lally and is his first feature documentary.

"I was beguiled, intrigued and perplexed by Roger Doyle's music which I had been aware of for many years before we actually met in the mid Noughties. This film is the product of both my reaction to his music and the act of shining a light onto one of Ireland's most overlooked and enigmatic artists. I structured the film around the launch, rehearsals and finally, the opening night of his first electronic opera. Thankfully, observing this process proved to be fascinating and the end result was one of the most remarkable spectacles I had ever seen on an Irish stage." - Brian Lally

Versions of the film:

As of August 2021, there are now two different versions of the film in circulation: the original cinema version (2018) which runs at 105 minutes and the more recent TV version (2021) which runs at 79 minutes. The main difference is that the TV version omits the extensive section about Roger's film soundtrack work and some of the behind-the-scenes footage of the opera rehearsals. The other notable difference is that the cinema version has a 2.39:1 aspect ratio while the TV version was remastered at 16:9 for broadcast.

For full cast and crew listing, see the IMDB listing here

Production Stills

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Film Poster

Cinema Quad

Production Still

Roger Doyle plays the "Finale to Adolf Gebler" in Saint Patricks Cathedral

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Roger Doyle in 1984 plays the Fairlight synthesizer

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Roger Doyle in 2017 plays a reconstructed Moog synthesizer

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A scene from Roger Doyle's opera "Heresy"

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Roger Doyle gives notes to young Irish opera soprano Aimee Banks