Lewis Arnold
Director
Film, TV & Theatre
Film, TV & Theatre
Lewis has just finished directing all 7 parts of THE LONG SHADOW for New Pictures/ITV. Prior to this he directed James Graham’s SHERWOOD for House Productions/BB1 and Jimmy McGovern’s TIME for BBC Studios starring Sean Bean and Stephen Graham. All three shows were nominated for multiple TV BAFTAs in 2022/23/24, with TIME going on to win Best Mini-Series, as well as Lewis being nominated in the Best Director Category in both 2022 for TIME and most recently in 2024 for THE LONG SHADOW.
In 2020 he directed and executive produced DES for New Pictures and ITV, having created the three-part drama with writer Luke Neal. The series won the International Emmy Award for Best Performance By An Actor in 2021, and was also nominated for Best TV Movie/Mini-Series. The first episode had consolidated viewing figures of 11.4 million making it ITV's biggest new series since the launch of series CLEANING UP in January 2019, a show which he developed with writer Mark Marlow, directing the first four episodes for Sister Pictures.
It was on graduating from the National Film and Television School in March 2013, that Lewis embarked on directing his first TV project, directing with two episodes of the final series of BAFTA-winning C4 show, MISFITS. He followed this up by directing the first four episodes of Russell T Davies’s new E4 show, BANANA, and was named a Broadcast Magazine Hotshot 2014 for his work on both shows.
Other credits include BROADCHURCH and HUMANS, which became Channel 4's most successful original drama in over 20 years when it aired in 2015. After directing two episodes on series one, he was asked back a year later to direct the lead block of the second series for Kudos and AMC.
Lewis is also represented in the US by Matt Greenberg and Jon Cassir at CAA.
SHERWOOD
The Guardian - 5*
The Times - 4*
The Financial Times - 4*
The Telegraph - 4*
“the BBC’s latest – and let me say up top, one of its greatest – drama series. The cleverest, most compelling show I’ve seen in years” The Guardian, Lucy Mangan
“This is going to be a knotty, complicated story, but I doubt it could be in better hands” The Times, Carol Midgley
TIME
The Guardian - 5*
The Financial Times - 5*
The Times - 4*
The Telegraph - 4*
"“striking direction from Lewis Arnold, ensures that these three hour-long episodes are difficult but essential viewing” Evening Standard. Katie Rosseinsky
“…compelling television, with a premium cast and written like a punch to the face. In a good way.” The Times, Carol Midgley
“Time is a necessary lesson on the British prison system and a masterclass in acting.” The Metro, Billy Schwabb Dunn
“Under the gaze of director Lewis Arnold, every line, every flicker of emotion on those two famous faces is pushed to the fore… BBC One prison drama is brutal, must-watch television.” Radio Times, Flora Carr
DES
The Times - 5*
The Financial Time - 5*
The Telegraph - 5*
The Guardian - 4*
“Rare it is to watch a drama about a serial killer that leaves you feeling as though the victims have been done a service. In the end, perhaps the greatest accolade that can be given this sensitive, finely worked piece is that Nilsen himself, attention-seeking narcissist though he was, would surely have hated it.” The Guardian, Lucy Mangan
“Superb: restrained, too, given the subject matter and sensitivities, and all the better for it.” Euan Ferguson, The Guardian.
“Phenomenal”, Hugo Rifkind, The Times.
Television
| Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
THE LONG SHADOW 2022 - 2023 | New Pictures/ITV | Director and Executive Producer. |
SHERWOOD 2021 | House Productions/BBC 1 | Lead Director and Executive Producer. |
TIME 2020 | BBC Studios | Director and Executive Producer. |
DES 2019 - 2020 | New Pictures/ITV | Co-Creator and Executive Producer. |
DARK MONEY 2018 - 2019 | The Forge/ BBC 1 | Director and Associate Producer. |
CLEANING UP 2017 - 2018 | Sister Pictures/ITV | Co-creator and Lead Director |
BROADCHURCH 3 2016 - 2017 | Kudos/ ITV | Episode 6. |
HUMANS 2 2016 | Kudos/ C4/ AMC | Lead Director. |
PREY 2 2015 | Red Productions/ ITV | Director. 3-part serial. 3 x 60'. |
HUMANS 2014 | Kudos/ C4/ AMC | 2 episodes. |
BANANA 2014 | Red Productions/ E4 | Lead Director. |
MISFITS 2013 | Clerkenwell Films/ E4 | 2 episodes. |
Short Films
| Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
CHARLIE SAYS 2013 | National Film and Television School | Director. 23' drama. |
ECHO 2012 | National Film and Television School | Director. 16' drama. |
STAINED 2009 | UK Film Council/Screen WM | Director. 16' drama. Based on Ronnie Thompson’s book ‘Screwed’. |
SPIRITED 2008 | UK Film Council / Screen WM | Director. 13' drama. |
In Development
| Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
PLAYING DEAD 2020 | Pia Pressure | Director and Writer. |
HIM 2020 | Protagonist Pictures | Director and Co-creator. |
BULLY 2020 | Pia Pressure/Stray Bear Films | Director and Co-creator. |
THE FICTIONAL MAN 2019 | The Forge | Director. |
Promos
| Production | Company | Notes |
|---|---|---|
'HIGHER’ Wookie ft Zak Abel | ROKKIT / MANCHU RECORDINGS | |
'Millionaire' SCOUTING FOR GIRLS 2013 | ROKKIT/SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT | |
‘Meet Me Halfway’ FUTUREHEADS 2012 | NFTS / BIGLIFE MANAGEMENT | Starring Ricci Harnett. |
‘Sunken Low’ LITTLE FRIEND 2012 | NFTS / ROKKIT | Starring Jo Hartley. |