|
| |
SUSANNAH DOYLE plays
A v r i l B u r k e.
Click the character's name to view a profile.
PLEASE use the controls to view the other actor profiles
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Avril Burke is the latest in a long line of strong-willed women to inhabit the mythical village of Ballykissangel. "She's very comfortable and fits in quite easily with the other people in the village. She's definitely a part of the fabric of the place," says Susannah.
Already an established television presence - she is best-known for her role as the cynical Joy Merryweather on the long-running series, Drop The Dead Donkey - Susannah was well prepared for the shift in mindset required to make the move to the pastoral bliss of the Ballykissangel countryside.
"Avril is very warm and it's nice for me to explore that. Joy was an extreme character who packed her punches and immediately said what she was thinking, a shoot-from-the-hip type of person. Avril is someone that allows for a greater challenge as a role - she's more multi-layered, carrying more depth. The attractive parts of Avril are quite straightforward, but it is her weaknesses as a person that offer me her more interesting aspects," she says.
Pride in her own Irish heritage, along with the chance to spend six months of her working year in the bucolic environs of Co Wicklow, were important factors influencing Susannah's decision to take the role in Ballykissangel. It both represented a journey back to her roots and fulfilled her desire to act in a series that's travelled well on an international scale.
"Ireland and Irish people have an easy, natural appeal practically everywhere in the world and Ballykissangel reflects this charm very well. The fact that Kieran Prendiville is once again writing the series influenced me greatly in becoming part of Ballykissangel. The strength of the characters has always been the core of the series, and the return of the original creator can only help to build on that aspect."
As the daughter of the late Tony Doyle, who reigned supreme as wheeler-dealer Brian Quigley throughout the first five years of the series, Susannah Doyle entered a familiar, yet deeply emotional, territory on her arrival in Ballykissangel. Treading in the fictional footsteps of her father, and working with a crew still coping with the tragic and premature passing of a such a well-loved man, clearly carried its difficulties for a daughter finding her own way into the future.
In the rich tradition of the acting life, however, Susannah was aware that the show must go on. "Acting was inculcated into my childhood, it became the thing I wanted to do even from the earliest age. I was the only one amongst my brothers and sisters who actually went into acting as a career. For me, there was never any doubt that it was what I wanted to do. I am very proud to be involved with Ballykissangel and the fact that it is already associated with my father makes me all the more so."
Susannah Doyle's other television credits include A Touch Of Frost and Work! She has also appeared in films including Scandal and Don't Go Breaking My Heart.
|
|
|
| |
|
THE CAST
Here you can find synopses of
your favourite Ballyk episodes, brush up on your Ballyk "History"
(useful for our quiz),
research at your leisure etc.
Select an episode to start with, read or print it and then
navigate the rest of the series in sequence.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
© World Productions 2000
All rights reserved; Photographs © BBC, Channel 4 and World Productions
No material from these pages may be reproduced in any form without
the permission of the copyright owners.
|
|
