Lewis Arnold
Director
Film, TV & Theatre
Film, TV & Theatre
Lewis Arnold is an award‑winning director and executive producer whose work spans some of the most acclaimed British dramas of the last decade. He most recently directed and executive produced all seven episodes of THE HACK for ITV Studios / AC Chapter One, starring David Tennant, Robert Carlyle, Toby Jones, Eve Myles and Rose Leslie.
He previously directed all seven parts of THE LONG SHADOW for New Pictures/ITV, following his work on James Graham’s SHERWOOD for House Productions/BBC One and Jimmy McGovern’s TIME for BBC Studios, starring Sean Bean and Stephen Graham. All three series earned multiple BAFTA nominations across 2022, 2023 and 2024. TIME won Best Mini-Series, and Lewis received BAFTA nominations for Best Director in both 2022 (TIME) and 2024 (THE LONG SHADOW).
In 2020, Lewis directed and executive produced DES for New Pictures/ITV, which he created with writer Luke Neal. The series won the International Emmy Award for Best Actor Performance and was nominated for Best TV Movie/Mini-Series. Its opening episode drew 11.4 million viewers - ITV’s biggest new drama launch since CLEANING UP in 2019, a series Lewis developed with writer Mark Marlow and directed the first four episodes for Sister Pictures.
Lewis began his television career immediately after graduating from the NFTS in 2013, by directing two episodes of the final series of BAFTA‑winning MISFITS. He then went on to direct the first four episodes of Russell T Davies’s BANANA for E4, earning a place on Broadcast Magazine’s Hotshots list in 2014. His other credits include BROADCHURCH and HUMANS, Channel 4’s most successful original drama in over twenty years. After directing two episodes on series one of Humans, he was asked back a year later to direct the lead block of the second series for Kudos and AMC.
Lewis is 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 HACK 2024 - 2025 | ITV Studios / AC Chapter One | Director and Executive Producer. |
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. |