David Harewood takes first on-screen lead in Channel 4 legal drama Pierre

David Harewood is taking the first on-screen lead role of his career in Pierre, a new Channel 4 legal drama that premieres on 5 October, NME reported.

Radio Times said the six-part series begins at 9pm on Monday 5 October and stars Harewood as Pierre Jeffreys, a duty solicitor drawn into a web of institutional corruption. For the 60-year-old actor, the role comes after nearly four decades in an industry in which he has spoken openly about struggling to secure leading parts.

David Harewood in Pierre: key facts about the Channel 4 drama

• NME reported that Pierre is David Harewood's first on-screen lead role after nearly forty years in the industry.
• Radio Times said the six-part series begins at 9pm on Monday 5 October on Channel 4.
• Radio Times reported that Harewood plays duty solicitor Pierre Jeffreys.
• NME described the character as a "dignified-if-flawed British duty solicitor" who "keeps chasing justice".
• NME said the series deals directly with racism in the police force across its six episodes.
• Radio Times said Pierre was written by Roy Williams and John Donnelly.

Why David Harewood says Pierre is the role he has waited for

For viewers searching for David Harewood following coverage of Pierre, the significance of the role lies as much in his career history as in the drama itself. NME reported that this is Harewood's first on-screen lead after nearly forty years working as an actor.

Harewood told NME that taking the central role felt like a long-sought promotion: "I wanted that position. It's like being captain of England. You want to be captain of your country. So for me, it was like getting the armband."

Radio Times reported a similar sense of arrival. Harewood said it had been "a struggle and a little bit frustrating" that a role of this kind had taken so long, but said the scripts by Roy Williams and John Donnelly immediately felt right for him.

He told Radio Times that Pierre gave him an opportunity to portray a rounded person rather than a narrow type. "The script allowed me to play a full human being," he said, describing the character as a husband, a funny man and a best friend. He added that earlier in his career he had not been given the chance to play every facet of a character.

Who is Pierre Jeffreys in Channel 4's Pierre?

Radio Times said Pierre Jeffreys is a duty solicitor who becomes entangled in institutional corruption. NME characterised him as "dignified-if-flawed" and as someone who continues to pursue justice despite the pressures around him.

NME reported that music helped Harewood unlock the character. He said the track that crystallised Pierre for him was St Germain's jazz-house track "Rose Rouge", describing its atmosphere as "late '70s, jazzy, New York" with people moving through a busy environment.

Harewood told NME that the track felt right because of its percussive quality, adding that the story itself felt percussive to him. The detail offers an insight into how he approached a character whose professional life is shaped by the pace and pressure of legal work.

Across the drama's six episodes, NME said Pierre also confronts racism within the police force. Harewood linked the subject to what he had witnessed over the years, particularly in relation to Stephen Lawrence, the 18-year-old Black British student murdered in 1993 in a racially motivated attack.

David Harewood's career from Birmingham to Homeland and Supergirl

NME said Harewood was born in Birmingham and grew up listening to The Specials as well as the synth sounds of OMD and Heaven 17. Radio Times reported that he grew up in Small Heath, the son of a lorry driver and a mother who worked in catering, after his parents migrated from Barbados to the UK in the late 1950s.

Radio Times said Harewood was accepted by the National Youth Theatre, came to London for a six-week course and was then offered a place at RADA. NME reported that he trained at RADA in the Eighties and is now its president.

His 1990s credits included Casualty and Ballykissangel, according to Radio Times, while his film work later included The Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino and Blood Diamond with Leonardo DiCaprio. NME noted that in Blood Diamond he played Captain Poison.

Radio Times said Harewood later played CIA figure David Estes in the first two series of Homeland, alongside Claire Danes and Damian Lewis. His subsequent roles have included Supergirl, The Night Manager and Sherwood, while NME also listed Homeland and Supergirl among his best-known credits.

David Harewood career timeline before Pierre

Period	Career milestone	Reported by
1980s	Harewood trained at RADA after attending the National Youth Theatre.	NME, Radio Times
1997	He became the first Black actor to play Othello at London's National Theatre.	NME
1990s	His television credits included Casualty and Ballykissangel.	Radio Times
Homeland era	He played CIA figure David Estes in the first two series.	Radio Times
2022	He was awarded an OBE.	NME
2025	He returned to Othello in the West End.	Radio Times
2026	Pierre gives Harewood his first on-screen lead role.	NME

How race and opportunity shaped David Harewood's acting career

NME reported that Harewood became the first Black actor to play Othello at London's National Theatre in 1997. Looking back on that period, he said there were no Black leading actors on television in the same way there are now and that he found it frustrating that he could not break through into lead roles.

He told NME that this was why he eventually went to America. Radio Times reported that Harewood had entered the profession believing he might receive an equal opportunity to compete for major roles on talent, but found it confronting to be labelled as a Black actor who could play only Black roles.

Radio Times said Harewood sees Pierre as evidence of change. He said a part like this would not have been possible during the first 15 years of his career, but argued that there had since been a progressive acceptance of Black acting talent. He called Pierre "a landmark" and "the character I've been waiting my whole career to play."

Harewood on mental health, Homeland and surviving the industry

Harewood has also spoken publicly about mental health. Radio Times reported that he experienced a psychotic episode in his early 20s, was sectioned and admitted to the psychiatric unit at north London's Whittington Hospital. He returned to work within weeks and still sees a therapist every week.

NME said he later became a mental health campaigner and presented the 2019 documentary David Harewood: Psychosis And Me. He received an OBE in 2022.

His career also included periods when work became scarce. Radio Times reported that by the late 2000s the phone had stopped ringing and that Harewood had gone nine months without working when his agent sent him the Homeland pilot script.

NME said he had not worked for a year before Homeland and had £80 in the bank. He was also grieving his best friend Louis, who died after a routine operation. Harewood told NME that the Homeland start date fell on Louis's birthday, which he took as a message to keep going. Reflecting on his profession more broadly, he said: "The acting is the easy thing. Surviving is the tough bit."

What David Harewood is working on after Pierre

NME reported that Harewood is already shooting other projects. He is filming the second season of divorce drama War, where he plays a very different kind of lawyer from Pierre Jeffreys, as well as the biblical epic Zero A.D.: The Birth Of Christ.

Radio Times also noted his return to Othello in the West End in 2025 and his memoir Maybe I Don't Belong Here. Having turned 60 last December, Harewood told the magazine that he feels better than he has in years and believes his best years are ahead of him.

With Pierre, that optimism coincides with the lead role he says he had been waiting for throughout his career. The six-part Channel 4 series begins on 5 October, with Harewood at the centre as a solicitor pursuing justice while confronting corruption and racism.

Frequently asked questions

What is David Harewood's new Channel 4 drama Pierre about?

Radio Times said Pierre is a six-part legal drama starring David Harewood as duty solicitor Pierre Jeffreys, who is pulled into a web of institutional corruption. NME reported that the series also deals directly with racism in the police force and follows a flawed but determined solicitor who keeps pursuing justice.

When does Pierre start on Channel 4?

Radio Times reported that Pierre begins at 9pm on Monday 5 October on Channel 4. NME also said the series premieres on 5 October. The drama runs for six episodes and marks the first on-screen lead role of David Harewood's career after nearly forty years in the industry.

Who does David Harewood play in Pierre?

Harewood plays Pierre Jeffreys, a duty solicitor. Radio Times said the character is drawn into institutional corruption, while NME described him as a "dignified-if-flawed British duty solicitor" who continues chasing justice. Harewood has said the role gave him the opportunity to portray a fully rounded person.

What other programmes and films has David Harewood appeared in?

Radio Times listed Harewood's credits including Homeland, Supergirl, The Night Manager, Sherwood, Casualty and Ballykissangel. His film work includes The Merchant of Venice and Blood Diamond. NME also noted his role as Captain Poison in Blood Diamond and his 1997 performance as Othello at London's National Theatre.