He is the author of books and screenplays which became successful films on Netflix (The Dig with Ralph Fiennes, Lily James and Carey Mulligan) and award-winning series on BBC (A Very English Scandal with Hugh Grant) and on ITV (Stonehouse, with Matthew Macfadyen).
All are set in England in the recent past: Ghosting in the world of radio and television in the 1950s; Ink in the dying days of Fleet Street's importance in journalism in the 1980s; Kings of the Roundhouse in strife-torn London in the 1970s; and The Dig in the 1930s.
[4] A Very English Scandal, Preston's non-fiction account of the Jeremy Thorpe affair of the 1970s, was adapted into a television miniseries starring Hugh Grant and Ben Whishaw in 2018.
[11] The Sunday Times reviewer of Ink said, "With a rare gift for both humour and desolation, Preston is a brilliant new player in the field of serious comedy.
[14] The Guardian's reviewer of Fall praised Preston's "great skill at exposing hypocrisy and subterfuge" and his "eye for the telling detail and an ear for the revealing quote".