Peter (who was christened and grew up as Kurt Graves) was born in Barton-Upon-Humber, Lincolnshire, England in 1950. He grew up with his father, Donald, who worked in the local fertiliser factory; his mother, who was born and lived in Austria until she married Donald at age 18; and his older sister, Pamela. He went to the local Secondary Modern School before breaking out of local tradition and making his way to London in order to escape his future following his father's footsteps in the factory. He enrolled on a Teacher Training Course at Goldsmiths' College, London where he specialised in History and Philosophy.

When, he made this move to London he chose to be called by his middle name, Peter, from then on. The change in surname arose from some research he undertook into his family history - he discovered that the rightful family name was actually Bygott and therefore legally changed his name to Peter Kurt Bygott.

For the next 20 years, he worked in London as a teacher at various different schools. When he was 27 (1977), he met his future wife, Catherine Reed. Catherine had just come over from Canada (she was born and grew up in London, Ontario, near Toronto) looking to travel around Europe before going back home. However, the couple married within a few months so she permanently stayed in England. In August 1992, they had a daughter, Rosalind.

When Peter was 40 (1990), he knew that if he didn't start acting then it would be too late for him to ever fulfil his dream. He put together a one-man-show of 'War Music', his own adaptation of Homer's Iliad, in order to gain his Equity card. Once this was achieved he soon started working with the RSC in Stratford-Upon-Avon for a few years in the early 1990's. In 1996, he starred alongside Kenneth Branagh in his film version of 'Hamlet'. He went on to play many roles in Shakespeare productions throughout England and working again with the RSC from 2004-2006.