Peter Straughan (born 1968) is a British playwright, screenwriter and author, based in the north-east of England. He was writer-in-residence at

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

Live Theatre Company Live Theatre, formerly Live Theatre Company, is a new writing theatre and company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. As well as producing and presenting new plays many of which go on to tour nationally and internationally, it seeks out an ...

. Whilst there, Live staged his plays, ''Bones'' and ''Noir''. Both of these plays have displayed Straughan's talent for writing dark, twisted and witty stories.

Early life

His first ambition was to be a professional musician and he achieved this while playing bass guitar with Newcastle-based band "The Honest Johns". He spent four years touring and recording with the band through the late 1980s and into the early 1990s before leaving to take up full-time education at

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...

. While Peter was a student he was also a member of the band Cactusman. Peter wrote the song "Killer", which appeared on the CD album ''North of London'', a collection of music by North East bands released through Newcastle Arts.

Screenwriting

Straughan co-wrote the 2006 feature film, ''

Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution ''Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution'' is a 2007 British comedy drama film, directed by Bille Eltringham and starring Catherine Tate, Iain Glen and Brittany Ashworth, about a British family who move to East Germany in 1968, during the Cold War. It was f ...

'' and adapted

Toby Young Toby Daniel Moorsom Young (born 17 October 1963) is a British social commentator. He is the founder and director of the Free Speech Union, an associate editor of ''The Spectator'', and a former associate editor at ''Quillette.'' A graduate of ...

's memoir '' How to Lose Friends & Alienate People''. He is the writer of the 2009 film, ''

The Men Who Stare at Goats ''The Men Who Stare at Goats'' (2004) is a non-fiction work by Jon Ronson concerning the U.S. Army's exploration of New Age concepts and the potential military applications of the paranormal. The title refers to attempts to kill goats by staring ...

'', and co-writer of the 2011 film ''

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ''Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'' is a 1974 spy novel by British author John le Carré. It follows the endeavours of taciturn, aging spymaster George Smiley to uncover a Soviet mole in the British Secret Intelligence Service. The novel has received ...

'', for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Adapted Screenplay, a screenplay he wrote in collaboration with his late wife

Bridget O'Connor Bridget O'Connor (18 January 1961 – 22 September 2010) was a BAFTA-winning author, playwright and screenwriter. Early life and education O'Connor was born in Harrow, north-west London, the second of five children. Her father Jim was from Co ...

. O'Connor died of cancer, aged 49, in 2010, before the film was released. They were awarded a BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay. He adapted ''

Wolf Hall ''Wolf Hall'' is a 2009 historical novel by English author Hilary Mantel, published by Fourth Estate, named after the Seymour family's seat of Wolfhall, or Wulfhall, in Wiltshire. Set in the period from 1500 to 1535, ''Wolf Hall'' is a symp ...

'' for television. Series 2 of ''Wolf Hall'' was confirmed to be in production on 27 May 2019.Radiotimes Wolf Hall season 2 adaptation confirmed.
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Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Straughan, Peter English dramatists and playwrights English short story writers English screenwriters English male screenwriters Alumni of Newcastle University Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) 1968 births Living people 21st-century British dramatists and playwrights English television writers English television directors English male dramatists and playwrights English male short story writers 21st-century British short story writers British male television writers 21st-century British screenwriters Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA Award winners 21st-century English male writers