Petrie spent his early career in theatre around the country before joining the RSC where productions included Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida and Henrik Ibsen's Brand opposite Ralph Fiennes. In 2005, he joined the National Theatre, where he stayed for 28 months performing in His Dark Materials, Shakespeare's Henry IV alongside Sir Michael Gambon and David Edgar's Playing With Fire. Other theatre work includes The Earl of Wessex in the 2015 West End Production of Shakespeare in Love. In 2008, Petrie played the lead role of Man in Mine, Shared Experience at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds.[4]
Screen
In 1996, Petrie appeared as Robert Martin in Emma. He featured in the BBC production of The Forsyte Saga as George Forsyte in 2002-2003, and he played a brief role in the music video for "Bellissimo" by Ilya directed by the Guard Brothers in 2004. In 2007 he appeared in Marc Munden's The Mark of Cain, The Whistleblowers and Cranford.
Also in television, Petrie has portrayed Geoff in Channel 4's Utopia, Alexander "Sandy" Langbourne in The Night Manager, and Robert Greenlaw in BBC1's Undercover. He played the role of Major James Sholto in the second episode of Season 3 of the BBC TV series Sherlock, which aired on 5 January 2014.[7] In 2018, he played Dr. Stephen Stanley in The Terror (based on the novel of the same name), a supernatural horror series about Franklin's lost expedition. In 2019, Petrie began playing Mr. Groff in the Netflix original comedy-drama series Sex Education.[5]
Personal life
Petrie is married to actress Lucy Scott,[8] with whom he has three sons.[9]
Petrie is an Ambassador for Borne, a medical research charity looking to identify the causes of premature birth.[10][11] In 2007, he and his wife swam the English Channel to fundraise for the charity, becoming the first married couple to complete the crossing.[12][13]
Petrie is close friends with actor Connor Swindells, his former costar and on-screen son. He officiated Swindells' marriage to actress Amber Anderson.[14]
