Born in London, the young Peter moved to Northamptonshire where his father was a chauffeur and butler at the local manor house. Always a show-off, when he joined the local ladies for pantomime, it was hard to get him off stage. From early appearances at the Bristol Old Vic, Peter worked as an actor in the late 1970s and 1980s, starring in television comedies including Rising Damp, Only When I Laugh, Rumpole of the Bailey, The Bounderand Perfect Scoundrels. He has starred in The Prisoner, Space: 1999, Survivorand The Avengersand played a key role in one of the most seminal films of the 1960s, Antonioni's Blowup. However it wasn't until the mid-1980s, when he co-starred with Penelope Keith in To the Manor Born, that he became a household name.

Funny, candid and warming in equal measure, Ask Me if I'm Happyis the very personal story of this inspiring and quintessentially British actor.