---
name: "David Pirie"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/david-pirie"
fi1m_id: "david-pirie"
imdb_id: "nm0685168"
tmdb_id: 43397
wikidata_id: "Q5238595"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "4 December 1946"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_fi1m_score: 82
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 2
updated: "2026-10-07T12:33:19.857670+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# David Pirie

## Identity

David Pirie

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/david-pirie
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** david-pirie
- **IMDb ID:** nm0685168
- **TMDB ID:** 43397
- **Wikidata ID:** Q5238595
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Pirie, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5238595, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0685168/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/43397

Writer. Born 4 December 1946 in West Pennard.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 4 December 1946, West Pennard
- **Active:** 1970–1997
- **Frequently works with:** [Bill Craig](https://film.one/person/bill-craig.md), [Brian Farnham](https://film.one/person/brian-farnham.md), [Clive Exton](https://film.one/person/clive-exton.md), [John Bruce](https://film.one/person/john-bruce.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 82, as writer, over 2 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1980s 83 (1), 1990s 82 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Pirie, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5238595, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0685168/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/43397

## Streaming the US now

- **BritBox:** [*Agatha Christie's Poirot*](https://film.one/tv/agatha-christies-poirot.md) (83)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

David Pirie is a British screenwriter, novelist and former film critic. Born in 1946, he began as a freelance writer in 1970 and worked as a film critic for Time Out and Capital Radio before moving into scriptwriting in the early 1980s.

His television credits include the screenplay for the Agatha Christie's Poirot episode Sad Cypress (2003), the story for an episode of Lewis (2009), and work on series such as Murder Rooms: Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes (2000–2001) and The Woman in White (1997), for which he received a BAFTA nomination. He co-wrote the screenplay for the feature film Breaking the Waves (1996) with Lars von Trier. Pirie has also written novels, including the Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes trilogy.

*Sources: imdb.com, wikidata.org, encyclopedia.com, screenonline.org.uk.*

## On Fi1m (2)

- *Breaking the Waves* (1996), Fi1m 82, Co-Writer — [page](https://film.one/film/breaking-the-waves.md)
- *Agatha Christie's Poirot* (1989), Fi1m 83, Screenplay — [page](https://film.one/tv/agatha-christies-poirot.md)

## Complete filmography (19)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *The Woman in White* (2018), series, Co-Executive Producer
- *Murderland* (2009), series, Writer, Creator
- *Lewis* (2007), series, Story
- *The Strange Case of Sherlock Holmes & Arthur Conan Doyle* (2005), Writer
- *The Safe House* (2002), Screenplay
- *Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes* (2001), series, Writer, Creator
- *The Wyvern Mystery* (2000), Writer
- *Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes* (2000), Writer
- *The Woman In White* (1997), Screenplay
- *The Woman In White* (1997), series, Screenplay
- *Element of Doubt* (1996), Screenplay
- *Breaking the Waves* (1996), Co-Writer — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/breaking-the-waves.md)
- *Black Easter* (1995), Writer
- *Natural Lies* (1992), series, Writer
- *Never Come Back* (1990), series, Writer
- *Agatha Christie's Poirot* (1989), series, Screenplay — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/agatha-christies-poirot.md)
- *Screen Two* (1985), series, Writer
- *Rainy Day Women* (1984), Writer
- *Play for Today* (1970), series, Writer

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/david-pirie