Tony Doyle, who played Brian Quigley in Ballykissangel died suddenly on January 28th, 2000 aged 58.

Born in County Roscommon, Tony had worked in fringe theatre in Dublin before landing the role of Deakin in 'Between the Lines'. Ballykissangel followed, then the four-part drama 'Amongst Women', for which he won several awards. He was due to start filming a new drama, 'McCready and Daughter' in February.

Tony had been attending a theatre premiere with former BallyK co-star Stephen Tompkinson on Thursday evening. He died in the early hours of Friday morning in St Thomas' Hospital, London from a suspected heart attack.

He is outlived by his wife Sally and six children, including 'Drop the Dead Donkey' star Susannah Doyle who will star in series 6 of Ballykissangel.

Stephen Tompkinson said: "As I always did with Tony, we had a great night out. We were laughing and joking and he was full of life. I just can't take it in that he's gone. He was one of the most generous actors I've worked with and one of my closest friends."

Peter Salmon, Controller of BBC One said: "For the last 5 years Tony Doyle was one of the brightest stars of Ballykissangel. The cast, crew and the millions of Ballyk fans - who took him firmly to their hearts - have lost a dear and charming friend. He brought real substance and warmth to everything he did. His performance on the BBC TWO drama Amongst Women was singled out as one of the best of the year. We were about to embark on a new adventure with him with a major new BBC One drama called McCready and Daughter, and it is extremely sad that he will now not be part of it. Tony Doyle was arguably the best actor of his generation to come out of Ireland."

Robert Cooper, head of drama at BBC Northern Ireland, said: "He had a natural authority, warmth, humour and intelligence that shone through the roles he played, from the wily Quigley in Ballykissangel to Michael Moran in Amongst Women. It is an awful irony that he should die when his career was so strong and when he was about to embark on so many new ventures."

Although I only met him very briefly a couple of times, it was obvious that the cast and crew of Ballykissangel were extremely fond of him. Ask any of them who the funniest person on set was and they'd always say 'Tony'.

The Ballykissangel online community will greatly miss this wonderful actor and we wish to extend our deepest sympathy to his family.

Other Tributes
BBC Ballykissangel site tributes
BBC Ballykissangel site front page
'Ballykissangel star Doyle dies' - BBC Northern Ireland News
'Tony Doyle - One of Ireland's Finest' - BB Northern Ireland News
Tony Doyle's death described 'a huge loss' - Irish Times
'Ballykissangel star Tony Doyle dies suddenly' - Daily Telegraph