Peter Duncan

Peter Duncan (born 8 September 1964) is an Australian film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his television series Rake, created with frequent collaborator Richard Roxburgh.

Duncan directed the feature films Children of the Revolution (1996), A Little Bit of Soul (1998), Passion (1999) & Unfinished Sky (2007). In 2024, he wrote the script for The Correspondent, based on the life of Australian journalist Peter Greste.

Biography Early life Duncan attended Scots College in Sydney. He studied a Bachelor of Arts/Law at Sydney University. While studying he participated in comedic University Revues. Duncan worked as a paralegal before deciding to pursue a career in film. The short follows a priest who returns from Rome to his frail father in Australia. The film was inspired by Duncan's grandfather, Sidney Welch, who was both a banker and member of the Communist Party of Australia. A year later, Duncan released his third film, Passion, exploring the life of Australian composer Percy Grainger. Duncan and film critic David Stratton called for the Australian Classification Board to review it's rating system after the film was rated R for depicting Sadomasochism.

Producer Ian Collie, who also had prior experiences in the Australian legal industry, approached Duncan to direct an adaptation of Australian Barrister Richard Beasley's novel Hell Has Harbour Views. Duncan adapted and directed the book as a Television film for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Duncan's Australian recontextualisation of 1998 film The Polish Bride, titled Unfinished Sky, was released across 2007 & 8. After the film struggled at the box office, Duncan reflected "they (audiences) need comedies at the moment, so we'll try and make some".

Returning to television film, Duncan directed 2008 sports comedy-drama Valentine's Day. The film follows a struggling country Australian Football League team.

In 2010, Roxburgh and Duncan released their series Rake. The series was said to be loosely based on the stories of Australian barrister Charles Waterstreet, although Roxburgh would later dispute the extent to which these remarks were accurate. Duncan referenced shows like The Sopranos having changed the rules of TV drama and that "people out there who want to see something that's smarter and challenging". Duncan co-wrote the series with Andrew Knight.

In 2014, Duncan was showrunner on an American adaptation of Rake produced by Sony Pictures Television. The series was cancelled after one season in May 2014. Duncan later reflected that he struggled under the more corporate American production environment and the limitations imposed by an episode structure driven by advertisement breaks.

In 2020, Duncan wrote and directed Operation Buffalo. The series was a darkly comic exploration of the events of the British nuclear bomb tests conducted in the 1950s at Maralinga, in outback South Australia.

In 2024, Duncan wrote the screenplay for The Correspondent. The film chronicles the legal battles of Australian journalist Peter Greste in Egypt. It was shortlisted for Betty Roland Prize for Scriptwriting, at the 2026 NSW Premier's Literary Awards.

Selected filmography Children of the Revolution (1996) A Little Bit of Soul (1998) Passion (1999) Hell Has Harbour Views (2005) Unfinished Sky (2007) Rake (2010–2018) Australian TV series Operation Buffalo (2020) Australian TV mini-series