[2] A longtime collaborator of actor-director Kenneth Branagh, Doyle is known for his work on films such as Henry V, Sense and Sensibility, Hamlet, Carlito's Way, Quest for Camelot, and Gosford Park, as well as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Thor, Brave, Cinderella, Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile.

[3] He has scored the films of many renowned directors including Robert Altman, Ang Lee, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell, Brian De Palma, Chen Kaige, Amma Asante, Régis Wargnier and Kenneth Branagh.

[9] The same year, he appeared in a prominent role as Alexander Smith in the Scottish television drama programme Maggie, which ran for two series on BBC Two.

[15] He has since composed for 14 more Branagh films, including Dead Again (1991), Much Ado About Nothing (1993), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), Hamlet (1996), Love's Labour's Lost (2000), As You Like It (2006), Sleuth (2007), Thor (2011), Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014), Cinderella (2015), Murder on the Orient Express (2017), Artemis Fowl (2020) and Death on the Nile (2022).

He managed to write the entire score for the animated fantasy Quest for Camelot (1998) in hospital whilst undergoing treatment, and eventually made a full recovery.

He has scored multiple films for celebrated French director Régis Wargnier, including Indochine (1992), Une femme française (1995) and Est-ouest (1999).

Pop artists Doyle has collaborated with include Jarvis Cocker on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,[19] as well as Pulp and Tori Amos on Great Expectations.

Directed by Kenneth Branagh and written by Daniel Hill, it included appearances from Emma Thompson, Sir Derek Jacobi, Dame Judi Dench, Alan Rickman, Imelda Staunton, Richard E. Grant, Adrian Lester, and Robbie Coltrane, with music from Doyle's scores performed by the London Symphony Orchestra.

[22] Doyle's work was celebrated in two concerts at the Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow in 2019,[23] both performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Dirk Brossé.

[38] In 2022, Doyle released a recorded album entitled Robert Burns – Love Songs for Solo Piano in which he performs a newly arranged collection of works penned by Scotland's world-famous National Baird.

[5] ASCAP President and Chairman Paul Williams observed, "Patrick Doyle's extensive body of work is some of the most compelling and affective in the industry.