[4] He attended and was a prefect at De La Salle Academy in Lithgow before graduating from the then Newcastle Teachers' College in 1973 with a Diploma of Teaching (Secondary English/History).
[18] Over that time Doyle and Pickhaver perfected a unique style that satirises the world of sport and the athletes, the entertainment scene and celebrity in general, in a manner that is simultaneously ruthless and affectionate.
[19] In addition to This Sporting Life, Doyle hosted the two-hour mid-afternoon shift on ABC radio station 2BL in Sydney for several years in the late 1980s and early 1990s, earning a loyal following among listeners and demonstrating that he was not only extremely knowledgeable on a huge range of subjects, but was also a superb interviewer.
[20][21][22] He took over many existing program segments and made them entirely his own, and his regular conversations with guests such as cooking expert Barbara Lowery, Sydney Opera House media liaison officer "Commodore" David Brown (whom he nicknamed "The Salty Sea Dog"), gardening expert Angus Stewart (nicknamed "The Doctor Of The Dirt"),[23] pop music expert and "Sydney Morning Herald" journalist Bruce Elder (nicknamed "The Professor of Pop") and Sydney Morning Herald TV Guide editor Tony Squires,[24] became regular highlights of the show.
Like Graham Kennedy, Doyle specialised in subtly (or blatantly) undercutting the "straight" presentation of such stock segments, and he often veered off on tangents that he found funny or diverting, or introduced ideas which he thought might be likely to get a "rise" from his guest.
The inadequacy of the women's toilets were also a frequent subject of discussion, or more correctly, interrogation, and the "what's on at the Opera House" segments stretched from around 10 minutes to a whole half-hour, through most of which David Brown's characteristic laugh was a highlight.
[20][9] During this period Doyle kept up a hectic work schedule, presenting The Afternoon Programme two hours a day, Monday to Friday, as well as his regular four-hour stint on Saturdays on This Sporting Life and also, at one stage, the first weekly half-hour TV version of the show.
[34] The series was partly inspired by Hogan's Heroes and was originally conceived as a situation comedy;[35] using the dramatic technique of magic realism, Doyle developed the script into a deeply moving yet often humorous examination of the experiences of young men at war and the effects it has on their later lives.
[36] In 2006, Doyle appeared in Two Men In A Tinnie, a documentary of his own making involving a trip down the Murray-Darling river system of Australia with his longtime friend, biologist Dr. Tim Flannery.
[44][45] Doyle met his wife Deanna, a visual artist, while working with the Hunter Valley Theatre Company,[46] though they both graduated from the Newcastle Teachers' College in 1973.
[5] Doyle's outstanding contribution to Australia's cultural scene, through theatre, radio and television was recognised with the granting of an honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Newcastle in 2001.