David Pirie

David Pirie is a screenwriter, film producer, film critic, and novelist.

As a screenwriter, Pirie has achieved a reputation for his noirish original thrillers, classic adaptations and period gothic pieces (see the BFI critique below), including most recently the hit ITV series Murderland starring Robbie Coltrane (2009), with ratings Digitalspy called "impressive" and The Guardian noted drew a 26% share and 6.3 million people for its opening episode, beating all other shows in its slot each week and averaging 5.8 million throughout its run. Pirie was nominated for a BAFTA for his adaptation of Wilkie Collins's 1859 novel The Woman in White into "The Woman in White" (BBC, 1997). The two part film was described by The Observer as "simply the best TV drama has to offer."

He also took a new approach to Sherlock Holmes both in TV and later in novels with the 'Murder Rooms' cycle, of which Publisher's Weekly wrote "This brilliant debut mystery from British screenwriter Pirie offers a novel twist on the Sherlock Holmes pastiche". It first saw life as a two episode pilot Murder Rooms (2000) which was partly based on Arthur Conan Doyle's early life. Echoing many other reviews from The Mail, The Times, The Independent and The Guardian (all viewable on murderrooms.com), the UK's Telegraph wrote, "a premise with a real touch of genius ...the script skillfully weaved episodes from Doyle's own past into a richly textured, constantly wrong-footing plot ... with a denouement as clever as anything that had gone before." Variety wrote, "Writer David Pirie has crafted a clever blend of historical evidence and fiction in the grand manner of a traditional Holmes mystery." The show was the second highest rated of all dramas on BBC2 in its year, spawning the series of books and TV shows, most notably Murder Rooms: The Patient's Eyes (2001). Pirie was credited as associate producer.

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