Born in Scotland, raised in a musical family and educated at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Patrick Doyle began his professional career as a music teacher before writing his first score for the musical comedy Glasvegas for the 1978 Edinburgh Festival.

He then went on to a dual career in acting and composition for British television. He composed the music for Scottish Television's Charlie Endell and for the BBC's The Butterfly's Hoof. He also worked as a song writer and performer for the BBC program 60 Minutes, and appeared in a small role in the film Chariots of Fire.

Doyle joined Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance Theatre Company in 1987 as actor, composer and musical director, after he was commissioned to write the music for the television version of their very successful production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. He also wrote the music for other Renaissance productions including Hamlet, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, Look Back In Anger, King Lear and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

In 1989 he was asked to write the score for Branagh's new film of Shakespeare's Henry V, which began his career in film scoring. His films include Much Ado About Nothing, A Little Princess (for which he received the Los Angeles Film Critics Association's Best Score award for 1995), and Sense and Sensibility and Hamlet, which earned him Oscar nominations for Best Dramatic Score. His most recent works include Bridget Jones' Diary , Gosford Park, Calendar Girls for director Nigel Cole and The Galindez Mystery (director Gerardo Herrero).

Hailed by director Tim McCanlies as " My favourite film composer " , Patrick Doyle was Tim McCanlies' first and only choice to score the soundtrack to Secondhand Lions. Patrick Doyle has proven Tim McCanlies' instincts correct by scoring a beautiful, emotionally evocative score that is romantic and liltingly stirring.