Peter was born in 1942 and educated at Scarborough Boys’ High School and Pembroke College Cambridge where he read Classics, Modern History and Political Science.  

He has spent more than 50 years reporting terrorism and political violence for ITV’s THIS WEEK through the 70s and BBC PANORAMA through the 80s and 90s. He went on to make many authored series for BBC 1 and BBC2 on security and the intelligence services and five documentary series since 9/11 on Al Qaeda and Islamist extremism including “Generation Jihad” on the radicalisation of young Muslims and “Modern Spies” on the intelligence services – MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.  

Over the years he has also produced many landmark documentaries on Smoking and Health including “Death in the West. The Marlboro Story”. He has written ten books, nine on terrorism and political violence and one, “Smoke Ring”, on the Politics of Tobacco. His trilogy, “Provos”, “Loyalists” and “Brits”, based on his ten-part BBC TV series, are regarded as a definitive analysis of the conflict viewed from all sides.  

His latest book, “Operation Chiffon. The Secret Story of MI5 & MI6 and the Road to Peace in Ireland”, formed the basis of his recent BBC2 documentary, “The MI5 Spy and the IRA”, (now on YouTube). 

He has won many awards for his work, culminating in Lifetime Achievement Awards from BAFTA and the Royal Television Society (RTS).