Peter Straughan

Peter Straughan (born 1968) is an English screenwriter. He won two BAFTA Awards for Best Adapted Screenplay for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Conclave, with the latter also earning him the Academy Award in the same category.

Life and career Early years and education Straughan's first ambition was to be a professional musician and he achieved this while playing bass guitar with Newcastle-based band The Honest Johns. He spent four years touring and recording with the band through the late 1980s and into the early 1990s before leaving to take up full-time education at Newcastle University. While Straughan was a student he was also a member of the band Cactusman. He wrote the song "Killer", which appeared on the CD album North of London, a collection of music by North East bands released through Newcastle Arts.

Screenwriting Straughan co-wrote the 2006 feature film, Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution and adapted Toby Young's memoir How to Lose Friends & Alienate People. He is the writer of the 2009 film The Men Who Stare at Goats, and co-writer of the 2011 film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Adapted Screenplay, a screenplay he wrote in collaboration with his late wife Bridget O'Connor. O'Connor died of cancer, aged 49, in 2010, before the film was released. They were awarded a BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Straughan adapted Hilary Mantel's trilogy of novels set in the royal court of Henry VIII for television. The three novels Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies, and The Mirror & the Light were adapted into the 2015 Wolf Hall television series and its 2024 sequel Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light.

In 2025, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay, the BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Conclave.

Filmography Short film Year Title Director Writer 2011 Gee Gee

Film writer Year Title Director 2006 Sixty Six Paul Weiland 2007 Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution Bille Eltringham 2008 How to Lose Friends & Alienate People Robert B. Weide 2009 The Men Who Stare at Goats Grant Heslov 2010 The Debt John Madden 2011 Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Tomas Alfredson 2014 Frank Lenny Abrahamson 2015 Our Brand Is Crisis David Gordon Green 2017 The Snowman Tomas Alfredson 2019 The Goldfinch John Crowley 2024 Conclave Edward Berger 2028 Sam Mendes

Television + Year Title Director Writer Notes 2014 Playhouse Presents Episode "Nosferatu in Love" 2015, 2024 Wolf Hall 12 episodes TBA Berlin Noir Upcoming series

Accolades Year Title Award/Nomination 2011 Tinker Tailor Soldier SpyBAFTA Award for Best British FilmBAFTA Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayBritish Film Bloggers Circle Awards for Best Adapted ScreenplayInternational Cinephile Society Awards for Best Adapted ScreenplayItaly Screenplay Award for Best International Adapted ScreenplayOnline Film Critics Society Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayRichard Attenborough Regional Film Awards for Best ScreenplaySan Francisco Film Critics Circle Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayNominated – Academy Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayNominated – Association of Women Film Journalists Award for Best ScreenplayNominated – British Independent Film Award for Best ScreenplayNominated – London Film Critics Circle Award for Best ScreenplayNominated – USC Scripter Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayNominated – Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted Screenplay 2015 Wolf HallNominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special 2024 ConclaveBAFTA Award for Best British FilmAcademy Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayBAFTA Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayGolden Globe Award for Best ScreenplaySt. Louis Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayWashington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayCritics' Choice Movie Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayRunner-up – Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayNominated – Astra Film and Creative Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayNominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayNominated – Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayNominated – San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Adapted ScreenplayNominated – San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle Award for Best Adapted Screenplay