Latest Stories
John Doyle: You want horror? Here’s more and more
The all-horror streaming service Shudder is now available in Canada, and its first major series is an engaging, subtly hypnotic tale
Nov 18, 2016
John Doyle: What does it mean to give the gift of life?
Canada’s organ-donation rate is among the lowest in the industrialized world. CBC’s Vital Bonds opens up the discussion
Nov 16, 2016
John Doyle: For and against comfort TV in a time of woe
While escapism has its place, its seems capricious to entirely avoid bleak television
Nov 15, 2016
John Doyle: Shooter is a drama that’s an aphrodisiac for gun-lovers
It’s an action/adventure/conspiracy drama that is, in truth, not so much about its main character as it is emphatically – and fatally – about guns
Nov 14, 2016
John Doyle: Trump on 60 Minutes: a TV corroboration of legitimacy
Old-school television matters when it comes to bestowing gravitas. That’s why Mr. Trump and family agreed to it
Nov 13, 2016
Doyle: Trump’s road from reality TV to president-elect, explained
The way that Trump delivered his message – one refined on The Apprentice – helped shape the outcome of the U.S. election
Nov 11, 2016
John Doyle: Remembrance Day is now different, as we recognize what lingers
War Story: The Damage is Done is a formidably moving and illuminating program that explores the psychological issues that linger in veterans after returning from war
Nov 09, 2016
John Doyle: After TV election spectacle, all I want is regularly scheduled programming
TV Quote of the night: “It’s stunning we’re having this conversation”
Nov 09, 2016
John Doyle: How Netflix's The Crown makes the royals sympathetic
Like those British dramas of the early 1960s that portrayed working life with grim focus on the monotony of existence, The Crown presents its royal character as trapped, boxed-in and vitiated
Nov 08, 2016
John Doyle: The war against the media will go on past this election
Defensive measures against Donald Trump and others’ loud allegations of bias aren’t going to work
Nov 07, 2016
Profile
John Doyle is The Globe and Mail's television critic. His column appears in the Review section Monday to Thursday and on Saturday. He has been the paper's critic since 2000. From 1995 to 2000 he was the critic for Broadcast Week, the Globe's television magazine.
Born in Ireland, John holds a BA in English Literature and an MA in Anglo-Irish Studies from University College, Dublin. He came to Canada in 1980 to pursue a PhD in English Literature at York University in Toronto. Having done some student and freelance journalism in Ireland, John continued to write in Canada and eventually abandoned writing for academic reward to concentrate on writing for money. After working briefly in radio and in television, he began writing a column for Broadcast Week in 1991.
Always argumentative, John has the distinction of winning a gold medal, at the age of 10, for his debating skills in the Gaelic language. His freelance articles were widely published in Canada, the U.S., Britain and Ireland and lectured on television and other aspects of popular culture. In a profile of John published in Toronto Life magazine in July, 2000, Robert Fulford wrote, "A critic as intelligent, industrious and ambitious as John Doyle should be cherished."
In 2004, John was called less charitable names. His columns mocking the Fox News Channel on its arrival in Canada attracted the attention of Fox News star Bill O'Reilly, and the channel's viewers wrote in their thousands to John, often abusively. The battle between John and Fox News viewers was the subject of international coverage, including a feature story in The New York Times.
John has won two internal Globe and Mail awards for his writing. His Globe columns have been reprinted in the U.S., the U.K. and in Australia.
His book, A Great Feast of Light: Growing Up Irish in the Television Age (Doubleday Canada) was published to acclaim in Canada in October, 2005. The book has now been reprinted many times and published in five countries, including the U.K. and Ireland.
Doyle also writes about soccer for The Globe and Mail and other publications. For the Globe he covered World Cup 2002 in Korea/Japan, Euro 2004 in Portugal, World Cup 2006 in Germany and Euro 2008 in Austria /Switzerland. He has also written extensively about soccer for The Guardian and The New York Times.
His book about soccer, The World is a Ball: The Joy, Madness, and Meaning of Soccer (Doubleday Canada) was a national bestseller in Canada on publication in the summer of 2010 and longlisted for The William Hill Irish Sports Book Of The Year. It has also been published in the U.S., Ireland, the U.K. and Croatia.
He has written essays for TV Quarterly (The Journal of The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences) and wrote the introduction to the book Rockburn: The CPAC Interviews (Penumbra Press, 2007). He was profiled in the book A Story To Be Told: Personal Reflections on the Irish Emigrant Experience in Canada (Liffey Press, Dublin, 2008).