Acting

Peter Birrel

Born — Died

1935-07-19 — 2004-06-23

Place of birth

West Ham, Essex, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

51 titles

Peter Birrel (né Peter Cohen 19 July 1935 – 23 June 2004) was an English actor who played numerous parts on British television for nearly forty years. Birrel appeared in the Doctor Who story Frontier in Space in 1973, as well as in the documentary I Was a "Doctor Who" Monster. He also appeared in the first series of Alexander the Greatest. His film credits included Freelance (1971), Arch of Triumph (1984), and the television miniseries Freud (1984), War and Remembrance (1988) and Around the World in 80 Days (1989). In 1979 he played a guest-role in George and Mildred as George's brother Charlie Roper in the episode A Military Pickle He married actress Stephanie Cole in 1998. She was widowe…

Known for

Film credits

1990s · 4 titles

David poster
6.6

A distinguished military leader whose reign was touched by great scandal, shocking betrayals and rousing victories. A simple shepherd boy chosen to be king, under the watchful eyes of prophet Samuel.

David

1997

Sharpe's Company poster
6.7

Spain, 1812. The Duke of Wellington plans to lay siege to Badajoz. A murderous figure from Sharpe's past uses a beautiful woman to revenge himself on Sharpe, now the father of her child. Sharpe has reason to be happy, he holds his daughter for the first time and is given command of the Light Company again, together with his captaincy. But will his happiness be short lived?

Sharpe's Company

1994

Sharpe: The Legend poster
6.1

Several years after the battle of Waterloo, a former soldier from Shoreditch sits in a London inn reminiscing about the brave and determined officer who took him to hell and back. The narrator is Rifleman Cooper, and the officer whose fame he recalls is the legendary Richard Sharpe.

Sharpe: The Legend

1997

I Was a Doctor Who Monster! poster
8.0

To coincide with a new era for Doctor Who we take a nostalgic look back at the glory days of the programme in a tribute to its unsigned heroes. Ever wondered what it’s like inside a Dalek? How, exactly, of you portray a Fish Person? What was it like recording Doctor Who during its 26 year run? And just how do you get to be a Doctor Who monster? Now you can find out as, for the very first time, we speak to the men and women who ensured we spend out Saturday nights behind the sofa. Their stories are funny, moving, unbelievable and sometimes tragic. Presented by the seventh Doctor, Sylvester McCoy, and containing unique film and newly discovered photographs, this all adds up to an entertaining trip down memory lane – go on treat yourself to a slice of nostalgia!

I Was a Doctor Who Monster!

1996

1980s · 4 titles

Series credits

Doctor Who poster
7.9

The adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-traveling spaceship. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, The Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilizations, help ordinary people, and right many wrongs.

Doctor Who

1963

Doctor Who poster
7.9

The adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-traveling spaceship. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, The Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilizations, help ordinary people, and right many wrongs.

Doctor Who

1963

Top of the Pops poster
6.6

The biggest stars, the most iconic performances, the most outrageous outfits – it’s Britain’s number one pop show.

Top of the Pops

1964

Crown Court poster
5.7

Crown Court is an afternoon television courtroom drama produced by Granada Television for the ITV network that ran from 1972, when the Crown Court system replaced Assize courts and Quarter sessions in the legal system of England and Wales, to 1984.

Crown Court

1972

The Saint poster
7.4

Simon Templar is The Saint, a handsome, sophisticated, debonair, modern-day Robin Hood who recovers ill-gotten wealth and redistributes it to those in need.

The Saint

1962

BBC Play of the Month poster
5.2

A BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983.

BBC Play of the Month

1965

Minder poster
7.2

Roguish comedy drama following the misadventures of small-time crook Arthur Daley.

Minder

1979

Z-Cars poster
7.3

Z-Cars or Z Cars is a British television drama series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, Merseyside. Produced by the BBC, it debuted in January 1962 and ran until September 1978.

Z-Cars

1962

Bergerac poster
7.0

Jim Bergerac is a detective sergeant in The Foreigners Office who likes to do things his own way. While dealing with his own personal demons Bergerac has a knack of finding trouble, and sometimes causing it.

Bergerac

1981

Thirty-Minute Theatre poster
4.2

An anthology of short plays shown on BBC Television between 1965 and 1973, used in part at least as a training ground for new writers, on account of its short length, and which therefore attracted many writers who later became well known.

Thirty-Minute Theatre

1965

No Hiding Place poster
4.8

No Hiding Place is a British television series that was produced at Wembley Studios by Associated-Rediffusion for the ITV network between 16 September 1959 and 22 June 1967. It was the sequel to the series Murder Bag and Crime Sheet, all starring Raymond Francis as Detective Superintendent, later Detective Chief Superintendent Tom Lockhart.

No Hiding Place

1959

Playhouse poster
7.0

A one-hour anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas produced by the BBC.

Playhouse

1974

ITV Saturday Night Theatre poster
7.0

Anthology series of dramatic works.

ITV Saturday Night Theatre

1969

Angels poster
4.5

Angels is a BBC medical soap-opera which launched on 1st September 1975 and was the blue print for such medical soaps as Casualty, Holby City, plus daytime soap, Doctors. The medical soap focuses on different departments within Heath Green Hospital and was a highly successful continuing drama.

Angels

1975

Lovejoy poster
7.4

The adventures of the eponymous Lovejoy, a likeable but roguish antiques dealer based in East Anglia. Within the trade, he has a reputation as a “divvie”, a person with an almost supernatural powers for recognising exceptional items as well as distinguishing genuine antique from clever fakes or forgeries.

Lovejoy

1986

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes poster
7.5

An anthology series produced by Thames Television, comprised of short mystery, suspense or crime adaptations featuring, as the title suggests, detectives who were literary contemporaries of Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes.

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

1971

Dixon of Dock Green poster
6.0

Dixon of Dock Green was a BBC television series following the activities of police officers at a fictional Metropolitan Police station in the East End of London from 1955 to 1976. Some episodes were later remade as a BBC radio series in 2005 and 2006.

Dixon of Dock Green

1955

New Scotland Yard poster
6.3

New Scotland Yard is a police drama series produced by London Weekend Television for ITV from 1972 and 1974. It features the activities of two officers from the Criminal Investigations Department in the Metropolitan Police force headquarters at New Scotland Yard, as they dealt with the assorted villains of the day.

New Scotland Yard

1972

Steptoe and Son poster
7.8

A father and son who work as rag-and-bone men live together in Shepherd's Bush, London. While Albert is content with their way of life, Harold aspires to better himself and build a life of his own, but his attempts are repeatedly thwarted by his father, leading to frequent clashes between the two.

Steptoe and Son

1962

The Main Chance poster
8.2

The Main Chance was a British television series which first aired on ITV between 1969,1970,1972 and 1975. A drama, it depicts the sudden transformation in the life of solicitor David Main who relocates from London to Leeds.

The Main Chance

1969

The Main Chance poster
8.2

The Main Chance was a British television series which first aired on ITV between 1969,1970,1972 and 1975. A drama, it depicts the sudden transformation in the life of solicitor David Main who relocates from London to Leeds.

The Main Chance

1969

Hammer House of Horror poster
7.0

Each self-contained episode features a different kind of horror, varying from witches, werewolves, ghosts, devil worship and voodoo, but also includes non-supernatural themes such as cannibalism, confinement and serial killers.

Hammer House of Horror

1980

Budgie poster
7.2

Budgie is a popular British television series starring former popstar Adam Faith which was produced by ITV company London Weekend Television and broadcast on the ITV network between 1971 and 1972. The series was created by Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall . The show was produced by Verity Lambert, Rex Firkin was the Executive producer.

Budgie

1971

The Adventurer poster
6.3

The Adventurer is an ITC Entertainment TV adventure series created by Dennis Spooner that ran for one season from 1972 to 1973. It premiered in the UK on 29 September 1972. The show starred Gene Barry as Gene Bradley, a government agent of independent means who poses as a glamorous American movie star.

The Adventurer

1972

Target poster
7.0

A crime drama set in Southampton following a team of detectives and the cases they solve.

Target

1977

Man in a Suitcase poster
7.2

Accused of treason, a former U.S. intelligence officer based in London tries to clear his name, taking on freelance jobs around Europe as he searches for answers.

Man in a Suitcase

1967

The Gentle Touch poster
7.2

Notable as the first British series to feature a female police officer (predating Juliet Bravo by four months), Detective Inspector Maggie Forbes raises her teenage son while navigating a male-dominated police force following the murder of her police commissioner husband.

The Gentle Touch

1980

No artwork available
7.5

Studio 4 is an anthology drama series utilising BBC Television Centre's Studio Four, and running for two series in 1962 on BBC One. It was envisaged as a sequel to Storyboard, a similar anthology series which had been transmitted the previous year.

Studio 4

1962

Wilde Alliance poster
7.0

Wilde Alliance is a 1978 British television programme created by Ian Mackintosh and produced by Yorkshire Television for l ITV. The light-hearted mystery series follows husband-and-wife amateur detectives Rupert and Amy Wilde.

Wilde Alliance

1978

Cribb poster
8.0

Victorian England, the late 1800s: Detective Sergeant Daniel Cribb of the newly formed Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is determined to remove crime from the streets of London using the latest detection methods.

Cribb

1980

C.A.T.S. Eyes poster
6.0

C.A.T.S. Eyes is a British television series made by TVS for ITV between 1985 and 1987. A spin-off of the series The Gentle Touch, Maggie Forbes leads an all-female detective agency called "Eyes" that secretly operates as a Home Office team known as C.A.T.S. (Covert Activities Thames Section).

C.A.T.S. Eyes

1985

Boy Meets Girl poster
NR

Anthology series of love stories.

Boy Meets Girl

1967

The XYY Man poster
7.0

The XYY Man is a 1976–77 British crime thriller television series created by Kenneth Royce, based on his novel series about reformed cat burglar William 'Spider' Scott, recruited by British intelligence for secret missions due to his unique genetic makeup (an extra Y chromosome), which supposedly predisposes him to crime. The plot follows his reluctant work for the secret service and his constant pursuit by the dogged Detective Sergeant George Bulman, leading to spin-offs like Strangers and Bulman.

The XYY Man

1976

Holly poster
NR

Holly Elliot is a university graduate taking an evening class in art appreciation. Her husband, David, on the other hand, works for a mail-order firm and is trying hard to keep up with Holly by taking an extramural degree in his spare time. Their lives are about to be irrevocably upended.

Holly

1972

Armchair Theatre poster
6.0

Armchair Theatre is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by Associated British Corporation, and later by Thames Television from mid-1968.

Armchair Theatre

1956

Freud poster
5.0

Freud, also known as Freud: The Life of a Dream, is a 1984 six-part BBC television serial dramatised by Carey Harrison, and starring David Suchet as Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Each episode begins with Freud and his family in London, where they had fled from Vienna in 1938 following the Nazi Anschluss, leading up to Freud's death a little over a year later. The rest of the episodes are told mainly in flashbacks to key moments in Freud's life and career.

Freud

1984

You Can't Win poster
NR

You Can't Win was a 1966 British television series made by ITV as an adaptation of the novels Scenes from Provincial Life and Scenes from Married Life by William Cooper. It stars Ian McShane as protagonist Joe Lunn, an English provincial grammar school physics teacher in 1939 who later moves to London and into the English establishment.

You Can't Win

1966

Don't Drink the Water poster
6.2

This short-lived sequel to On the Buses (1969) saw Blakey move to Spain with his sister.

Don't Drink the Water

1974

No artwork available
5.0

Studio 4 is a BBC drama anthology series, filmed at the BBC TV Centre's Studio Four, and screening over two seasons in 1962. The series was envisaged as a sequel to Storyboard, an anthology series which had been transmitted the previous year.

Studio 4

1962

No artwork available
9.0

Alexander the Greatest was a British sitcom that aired on ITV from 1971 to 1972. Starring Gary Warren, it was written by Bernard Kops and made for the ITV network by ATV.

Alexander the Greatest

1971