---
name: "Al Campbell"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/al-campbell"
fi1m_id: "al-campbell"
imdb_id: "nm2667446"
tmdb_id: 1277101
wikidata_id: "Q105076583"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "2 February 1977"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_fi1m_score: 70
average_as: "director"
average_over: 3
updated: "2026-10-07T18:44:30.480576+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Al Campbell

## Identity

Al Campbell

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/al-campbell
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** al-campbell
- **IMDb ID:** nm2667446
- **TMDB ID:** 1277101
- **Wikidata ID:** Q105076583
- **Same entity:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105076583, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2667446/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1277101

Director. Born 2 February 1977 in England, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 2 February 1977, England, UK
- **Active:** 2013–present
- **Frequently works with:** [Charlie Brooker](https://film.one/person/charlie-brooker.md), [Jason Hazeley](https://film.one/person/jason-hazeley.md), [Joel Morris](https://film.one/person/joel-morris.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 70, as director, over 3 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2010s 84 (1), 2020s 62 (2)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 70 to 70 across 3 titles
- **Score spread:** 1 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Comedy 3, Drama 2, Crime 1, Mystery 1, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 1
- **Screen time:** 1 hours of reviewed films
- **Elsewhere:** https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q105076583, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2667446/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1277101

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*The Change*](https://film.one/tv/the-change.md) (78)
- **Netflix:** [*Death to 2020*](https://film.one/film/death-to-2020.md) (47)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Al Campbell

> Al Campbell is good at giving comic performers room, and *The Change* shows how warmly he can handle an ensemble. We rate him most when the characters matter more than their eccentricities.

Linda riding off on her motorbike in *The Change* (2023) gives Al Campbell a clear comic task: make her escape feel worth taking. We felt relieved when she went, because Bridget Christie makes the wish to get away from unpaid work so understandable. Campbell makes the Forest of Dean inviting, with a folky atmosphere that suits the increasingly strange encounters. His direction works well here, though the attention paid to local oddities sometimes holds up Linda's more interesting attempt to reclaim some time for herself.

Campbell came to directing after playing Barry Shitpeas in Charlie Brooker's *Screenwipe*, *Newswipe* and related specials. The move behind the camera came in the mid-2010s, with episodes of *Man Down* and *Drifters*. *Dead Pixels* (2019) and *Two Weeks to Live* (2020) followed, alongside the Brooker-written satire *Death to 2020* (2020). He has since directed episodes of *Inside No. 9* between 2022 and 2024, and the special *Cunk on Life* (2024). These collaborations make his judgement about how much room to give another person's comedy an important part of the job.

Christie, who created *The Change* as well as playing Linda, provides the plain-speaking centre that its rural community needs. Campbell has Monica Dolan as Carmel, Liza Tarbuck as Siobhain and Paul Whitehouse as Tony around her, and the pleasure of their company helps the programme through its slower stretches. Linda remains someone we can understand even as the comedy around her becomes more fanciful. We would happily spend longer with this ensemble when its members have something to do beyond being unusual.

The weakness is a tendency to treat oddness as sufficient reason to linger. Across the first series' six episodes, the pace slackens while Christie and Campbell enjoy the locals, and the jokes do not always justify the time spent on them. Linda's wish to reclaim her life gives us more to care about than another display of rural eccentricity, particularly when other people's concerns begin to intrude on her escape. Start with *The Change*, with a little patience for the locals.

## Biography

Al Campbell is a British television director and occasional actor. Born in England in 1977, he has directed numerous comedy series and specials, including episodes of *Inside No. 9* (2014–2024), *Dead Pixels* (2019), *Two Weeks to Live* (2020), *Code 404* (2020–2022), *The Change* (2023) and *Cunk on Life* (2024).

He has also acted as the talking head Barry Shitpeas in Charlie Brooker's *Screenwipe*, *Newswipe*, *Weekly Wipe* and related specials. Campbell has received BAFTA nominations for his work in television comedy.

*Sources: imdb.com, comedy.co.uk.*

## On Fi1m (3)

- *The Change* (2023), Fi1m 78, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-change.md)
- *Death to 2020* (2020), Fi1m 47, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/death-to-2020.md)
- *Inside No. 9* (2014), Fi1m 84, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/inside-no-9.md)

## Complete filmography (25)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Cunk on Life* (2024), Director
- *Only Child* (2024), series, Director
- *The Awakening* (2024), Director, Writer
- *The Change* (2023), series, Director — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-change.md)
- *Stewart Lee: Tornado* (2022), Director
- *Stewart Lee: Snowflake* (2022), Director
- *Death to 2020* (2020), Director — Fi1m 47, [page](https://film.one/film/death-to-2020.md)
- *Two Weeks to Live* (2020), series, Director
- *Charlie Brooker's Antiviral Wipe* (2020), as Barry Shitpeas
- *Cunk & Other Humans on 2019* (2019), series, as Barry Shitpeas
- *Sliced* (2019), series, Director
- *Dead Pixels* (2019), series, Director
- *Urban Myths* (2017), series, Director
- *A Gert Lush Christmas* (2015), Director
- *Inside No. 9* (2014), series, Director — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/inside-no-9.md)
- *How Videogames Changed the World* (2013), Director
- *It's Kevin* (2013), series, Director
- *Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe* (2013), series, as Barry Shitpeas
- *BBC Comedy Feeds* (2012), series, Director
- *Comedy Feeds* (2012), series, Producer
- *The Midnight Beast* (2012), series, Director
- *How TV Ruined Your Life* (2011), series, Series Director
- *James May's Man Lab* (2010), series, Director
- *Ashen's Tech Dump* (2010), series, Director
- *Charlie Brooker's Gameswipe* (2009), as Barry Shitpeas (uncredited) · Director

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/al-campbell