David Harewood’s star power ignites Pierre, a Channel 4 crime drama that has been hailed as an instant classic of the genre. The series, co-written by acclaimed playwright Roy Williams with John Donnelly, follows a duty solicitor working in a London police station, offering a fresh perspective on policing and race.
A milestone for Black British drama
Harewood, who made history in 1997 as the first Black actor to play Othello at the National Theatre in London, brings the same intensity to this role. The show’s confident storytelling is largely down to his performance, from the way he enters a room and unbuttons his suit jacket to the soft Birmingham burr sharpened by years of gritty London living.
Pierre is not exactly Othello at the National, but it is another cultural milestone in the story of Black British crime drama. It follows in the footsteps of Red, White and Blue (2020) and Get Millie Black (2024), but Pierre’s identity as a duty solicitor – a securely middle-class Black professional rooted in his community – gives him a wider jurisdiction.
Noir with a twist
The plot is noir with a twist: a young Black man is found dead after telling Pierre he was building a case of police harassment against an officer. The show’s noirish locations, frequented by Pierre on night shifts, and its striking title graphic of building-height yellow letters, add to the atmosphere.
Pierre’s world includes his law firm partner Charlotte (Michele Austin) and his wife Celeste (Sara Powell), alongside colourful characters like DS Ronnie Miller (Jason Flemyng) and Christopher Fairbank’s Dickensian figure. The show sometimes buckles under the burden of condensing modern race and policing politics into chatty dialogue, but his friends in places high and low agree: nobody does it quite like Pierre.
Pierre is available on Channel 4 now.
