---
name: "Howard Brenton"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/howard-brenton"
roles: ["Writer"]
born: "13 December 1942"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "writer"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-18T09:30:00.714408+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."
---

# Howard Brenton

Writer. Born 13 December 1942 in Portsmouth.

## Details

- **Work:** Writer
- **Born:** 13 December 1942, Portsmouth
- **Active:** 1970–2002
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Brenton, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q675078, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0107623/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1230377

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*Spooks*](https://film.one/tv/spooks.md) (77)

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

## Biography

Howard Brenton is an English playwright and screenwriter. Born in Portsmouth in 1942, he read English at St Catharine's College, Cambridge, and began his career in fringe theatre, joining the Brighton Combination and Portable Theatre in the late 1960s.

He is known for stage works including *Christie in Love* (1969), *Magnificence* (1973), *Weapons of Happiness* (1976, Evening Standard Award), *The Romans in Britain* (1980), and collaborations with David Hare such as *Brassneck* (1973) and *Pravda* (1985). On television he wrote thirteen episodes of the BBC series *Spooks* (2002–2005), which won the BAFTA for Best Drama Series in 2003, and contributed to *Play for Today*.

Brenton was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2017. He has also written radio plays, a novel and adaptations of classic texts.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, theguardian.com, playwrightscanada.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Spooks* (2002), Fi1m 77, Writer — [page](https://film.one/tv/spooks.md)

## Complete filmography (16)

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

- *Creditors* (2025), Writer
- *Hampstead Theatre At Home: Drawing The Line* (2020), Writer
- *Journey of a Freedom Fighter* (2014), Associate Producer
- *#aiww: The Arrest of Ai Weiwei* (2013), Writer
- *Spooks* (2002), series, Writer — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/tv/spooks.md)
- *Iranian Nights* (1989), Writer
- *Dead Head* (1986), series, Writer, Creator
- *Desert of Lies* (1984), Writer
- *Plays for Britain* (1976), series, Writer
- *The Paradise Run* (1976), Writer
- *Brassneck* (1975), Writer
- *The Saliva Milkshake* (1975), Writer
- *Centre Play* (1973), series, Writer
- *Skinflicker* (1972), Writer
- *Play for Today* (1970), series, Writer
- *Thirty-Minute Theatre* (1965), series, Writer

## Awards

### Other awards — 1 won

- Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature 2017: Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© 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/howard-brenton