On 22nd February 2009, Danny Boyle joined the Oscar-winning directors' club.

The Lancashire lad had come a long way from his humble beginnings. After cutting his teeth in theatre productions, and then moving into TV (he directed a couple of episodes of Inspector Morse), Boyle grabbed major amounts of attention for his gripping big screen debut, Shallow Grave.

The taut, relentlessly pacy, conversation-starting Brit-thriller set the template for what was to follow in Boyle's career, as far as any template could categorise his manic, genre-hopping energy. Shallow Grave showcased Boyle's ability to achieve great results from modest working conditions, a little-known cast, and a smart premise.

He delivered again with Trainspotting, one of the coolest Brit-flicks of the 90s, and, with the exception of his not entirely successful foray into Hollywood territory with The Beach, he's been delivering interesting movies over the past couple of decades, including zombie-reviver 28 Days Later, heartwarming kiddie caper Millions, and sci-fi horror Sunshine.

And in 2009 he directed Slumdog Millionaire. Taking the one-time hit TV show that had since lost its lustre, and tying it in with the story of the harsh lives of a trio of Indian street kids, Boyle came up with box office gold and critical backslapping to match. Receiving the Oscar was the icing on Boyle's impressive career cake, and despite the small, intimate nature of the project, it seemed perfectly suited to that win. Taking home eight of the ten awards it was nominated for (and trumping Academy-friendly fare like Milk, The Reader and Benjamin Button), Slumdog seemed to epitomise Boyle's underdog-done-good status.

With the world now at his feet, he wasted no time taking on another project.