New BBC drama Danny Boy based on true story of Brian Wood

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.

Wood and the tenacious human rights lawyer Phil Shiner, played by Toby Jones, go head-to-head in a legal and moral conflict that will take viewers from the battlefield - at so-called Checkpoint Danny Boy - to the courtroom where memory, evidence and trauma collide.

As we start #mentalhealthawarness week I would like to share this clip from Danny Boy (a conversation I actually had with dad). I found it very difficult to reintegrate into family life and talking about the aftermath of war. I eventually got help and it changed my life. pic.twitter.com/NrqblybcoS

— Brian Wood MC (@BrianWoodMC) May 9, 2021

Aged just 24, Brian Wood took part in a fierce engagement in Iraq north of Basra, named after a nearby checkpoint - the Battle of Danny Boy.

The battle sparked a 13-year legal fight after British troops were given an order to remove the bodies of the 20 Iraqi dead and take them back to a nearby camp along with nine prisoners of war.

The detainees, who were insurgents with the Shia militia Mahdi Army, went on to claim they had been mistreated and heard the torture and murder of their compatriots.

Among the dead was 19-year-old Hamid Al-Sweady, whose uncle Khuder Al-Sweady claimed he had been murdered at the British camp.

Picture: BBC/Expectation TV/Robert Viglasky

Brian was finally exonerated after the £31 million inquiry concluded the accusations were "deliberate lies" and "reckless speculation".

The drama will explore the effect it had on Sargent Wood as well as his family: father and ex-soldier Gavin, played by Alex Ferns; mother Margaret, played by Pauline Turner; and wife Lucy, played by Leah McNamara.

When asked why viewers should watch Danny Boy, director Sam Miller said: “To gain an understanding of the effects of modern war, by dipping into a major and recent historical event. There are tears and there’s bloodshed. The film tells both sides of the story with courage and conviction - and a deep respect for all those affected. The story is very moving.”