I’m a freelance documentary director based in London. I’ve been making documentaries for  25 years and my work has been recognised by BAFTA, Rose d’Or, The Grierson Trust, The Royal Television Society and others. I focus on morally complex stories of scale and resonance. I combine intimate, psychologically authentic interviewing with compelling  storytelling and visual flair.

I grew up in Leeds, went to Lawnswood Comprehensive School then studied English Literature at Cambridge University before I started working as a researcher in television production. I went on to work as an assistant producer and then producer across a wide range of documentary genres from history to cookery, current affairs and the natural word. During this time I worked with and learned from some brilliant directors, editors and directors of photography and I developed a passion for documentary storytelling. 

 In 2007, I was commissioned through Channel 4’s new director’s scheme to make my first film -  Health Food Junkies  - an exploration of, what was then,  an emerging trend for wellness and extreme healthy eating. Since then, I have directed more than 20 films for  British broadcasters including the BBC and Channel 4 as well as for global streamers including  Netflix and Apple TV+.

 My limited series for Netflix  Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story, re-examined thousands of hours of archive footage alongside new testimony interviews to explore how a British television personality hoodwinked a nation for more than five decades. The series was critically acclaimed, received nominations and awards from Broadcast, Rose d’Or and BAFTA  and was a global hit on Netflix as the most watched film on the platform for several weeks.  

My feature length BBC documentary film The Case of Sally Challen followed Challen and her team as she appealed the conviction of murder after killing  her husband on the grounds of prolonged psychological abuse. The film received five star reviews and was described as  “an excellent and meticulous film” which “delved deeper than most into the intricacies of the case, and the main players psyches, tracing the filaments of each without becoming tangled up or intrusive”.  

Another of my BBC feature length films, How to Die: Simon’s Choice followed businessman Simon Binner and his wife Debbie as they faced the devastating decision of whether Simon should end his life in a Swiss assisted-dying clinic after a diagnosis of motor neurone disease. Made in close  collaboration with Simon and his family, the film was described as “a landmark documentary” and “remarkably nimble and considered”. The film was  nominated for a BAFTA , won a Grierson and several other awards and has since been named one the Grierson Trust’s  must-see documentaries of the last 50 years.

Other work includes Our War: Goodbye Afghanistan which combined frontline footage  shot by British soldiers with interviews and computer-generated imagery to tell the story of the UK’s 10-year campaign in Helmand. It won a Grierson Award  and was described as "breathtaking, stirring, intensely moving and shocking."

For Sudan: The last of the Rhinos,  I travelled to Sudan, Kenya and the  Democratic Republic of Congo to follow international teams of scientist and conservationists attempting to save the northern white rhino from extinction. The film won a Best Conservation Award at the International Wildlife Film Festival and was described as “surreal, fascinating, tear-jerking and jaw-dropping”. 

Alongside my single films, I have directed on and series directed multi-part documentary series including Keeping Britain Alive, a groundbreaking series which coordinated over 100 camera teams over a single 24-hour period  to capture a day in the life of the NHS and The Tube a character-driven and characterful behind-the-scenes portrait of the oldest and busiest underground train network in the world. 

 I have recently completed  production on a major Apple TV + limited series about  an unfolding global story; combining choreography, dramatic reconstruction, archive and  retrospective testimony interviews to tell a compelling  psychological story about belief and betrayal. It will be released in 2026.

 

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Filmography

2025 PROJECT UNDER NDA (3 x 45' Apple TV +, Lightbox)

2022       JIMMY SAVILE: A BRITISH HORROR STORY (2 x 90’ Netflix, 72 Films)

2020       THE CASE OF SALLY CHALLEN (1 x 90’ BBC2, Minnow Films)

2017       SUDAN: THE LAST OF THE RHINOS (1 x 60’.  BBC2 and PBS, BBC Studios) 

2016       HOW TO DIE: SIMON’S CHOICE (1 x   90’ BBC2, Minnow Films) 

2014       OUR WAR: GOODBYE AFGHANISTAN (1 x 90’ BBC3, BBC Studios)

2013       KEEPING BRITAIN ALIVE (eps 3 and 5) (8 x 60’ BBC2,  The Garden)

2012       THE TUBE  (eps 1 and 2)  (6 x 60’ BBC2, Blast! Films)

2011       PRISON, MUM AND ME (1 x 60’ BBC3, Fresh One Productions)

2010       TULISA, MY MUM & ME (1 x 60’ BBC3/ BBC1, Mentorn Media)

2009       FIX MY FAT HEAD (1 x 50’  BBC1, Prospect Pictures)

2009       MY BRILLIANT BRITAIN WITH ALAN CUMMINGS (1 x 30’ UKTV, Prospect Pictures)

2008       I’M KYLIE’S BODY DOUBLE (1 x 60’, BBC 3, Prospect Pictures) 

2007       LOST WORLDS (2 x 45’,  THE HISTORY CHANNEL)

2007       FIRST CUT: HEALTH FOOD JUNKIES (1 x 30’  Channel 4,  Maverick Television)

2006      SEX LIES AND SOAPS (2 x 30 Channel 4, ZKK Television)

2005      NAMESAKES: A VERY BRITISH ODYSSEY (1 x 30’ Channel 4, Century Films)