Peter Creedy is head of the secret police, "the Fingermen". He and his secret police are charged with apprehending "V," the masked vigilante whose high-profile acts of terrorism have undermined Norsefire's control of England.
Creedy comes to power after the death of Derek Almond. Unlike Adam Susan, who genuinely believes in fascism, Creedy is a cold-blooded opportunist whose only goal is absolute power. A coarse, petty man, he is held in contempt by sophisticates like Helen Heyer and it is strongly suggested that senior officers in the police force have little respect for him. Eric Finch's right-hand man Dominic coolly rebuffs his offer of 'closer co-operation' in spite of his implied threat that anyone who isn't on his side will regret it later.
However, it also becomes clear that Creedy is somewhat incompetent. He and his men let V escape from the NTV broadcasting centre after the 'Guy Fawkes' video is broadcast, and he lets Rose Almond through the police cordon during Susan's last public appearance, not suspecting that she will assassinate him. Nevertheless he and his forces subsequently take total control of London. However, his term as the "emergency commander" is short-lived, as his chief of staff, a Scottish gangster named Alistair Harper, turns on him after being given a substantial bribe by the manipulative Helen Heyer. Harper and his men grab Creedy and hack him to death with a razor.
Film[]
In the movie version he is played by Tim Pigott-Smith.
Creedy serves the ruling Norsefire party as head of the Finger, the secret security police who carry out the kidnapping, detention and mass murder of anyone who criticizes Norsefire or does not fit its racist standards of "purity". Although as Adam Sutler is more prominent as the Chancellor, the real power of the Norsefire lies within Creedy, so the latter serves as the main antagonist of the film. His complete ruthlessness is shown, and is evolved from a petty criminal to an ice-cold sociopath; V describes him as "a man seemingly without a conscience, for whom the ends always justify the means" and the mastermind behind the bio-engineered plague, which is later blamed on terrorists and used to terrorize the public into giving Norsefire total control. In a meeting with Inspector Eric Finch, a disguised V suggests that it was Creedy's idea to use the virus not on "an enemy of the country, but rather the country itself."
After Bishop Lilliman's death, Creedy personally arrives at St. Paul's cathedral to oust the head of the Nose Eric Finch. He states that because of several members of the party being murdered by V, Chancellor Sutler demanded his involvement with the investigation stated that V had a vast knowledge about the Norsefire network and also suspected that there was an informant providing information to V. Fitch shot back at him stating it would be hard for him to run his investigation with his Finger men detaining the witnesses. Creedy stated that Finch should leave behind all matters that were in the past such as Lark Hill Resettlement Camp and that Major Wilson was a friend of the High Chancellor and stated his loyalty to the party was not in question. He then reminded Finch that he was Irish and that the St. Mary's virus had gotten to Ireland (although this could just have been propaganda). He warns Finch that he should find V sooner than later.
The Finger's trademark is the black bags they put over the captives' heads. One such instance is when Chancellor Sutler orders variety show host Gordon Deitrich arrested for mocking Sutler on his show; Creedy personally shows up at Deitrich's home and beats him with a nightstick, splitting open his face. Dietrich is then taken away and executed for possessing forbidden material (the Finger's finding a copy of the banned Quran hidden in his house had sealed his fate).
Later Creedy has fallen out of favor with Sutler because of his failure to stop V's activities and the public actions resulting from them. One night while tending his flowers in his countryside home, Creedy is confronted by V, who offers him to turn himself over in exchange for Sutler. After facing further criticism from Sutler, Creedy accepts the offer.
V, Creedy and a squad of 14 fingermen, meet in an abandoned tube station, and after V placed a rose in his suit pocket, Creedy personally shoots the hated dictator in front of V stating that he was "Disgusting". When V violently refused to take off his mask, the Fingermen open fire but fail to take him down due to V wearing a metal bullet resistant vest. A mortally wounded V cuts down all 14 of Creedy's Fingermen with knifes. Fulfilling his promise that Creedy would die with his hands around his neck, the masked vigilante corners Creedy and manually snaps his neck, killing him for good.
Trivia[]
- Creedy shares similarities with and is possibly inspired by Hinrich Himmler, the ruthless leader of the the Third Reich's secret police division the Schutzstaffel (SS).