Which engine Series and what injector pump etc.
Generally most TDs have an electric pump in tank but not all, so many have a hand primer near engine although I think the Lucas Epic pump had neither and was a pain.
I assume from what you are saying you are trying to start a "none runner" so assuming everything else on the engine is in good working condition you can either fit an inline hand primer like speed boat fuel tank squeezy bulb system or what I did on a troublesome 1.9 non turbo with Lucas Epic pump I gravity fed a can on the wing to the injector pump and with a good battery and all the four injector fuel unions slack, cranked the engine over until I could see fuel coming from injector unions and then on tightening them up whilst still cranking the engine it burst into life.
Note the can will soon run out as no return fuel supply , so then switch engine off and connect correct pipes and it should draw fuel through.
Also make sure no air leaks in pipe work anywhere. The original fault on this one was an air leak at the plastic connector seals of flow and return pipes at the fuel tank.
Another point, make sure you have a good fully charged battery and only crank engine for a short period at a time , then give starter a rest as they can overheat and you will destroy the starter.