---
name: "Charles Sturridge"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/charles-sturridge"
fi1m_id: "charles-sturridge"
imdb_id: "nm0836430"
tmdb_id: 77104
wikidata_id: "Q1066169"
roles: ["Director","Writer"]
born: "24 June 1951"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 78
average_as: "director"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-07T15:32:09.118261+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."
---

# Charles Sturridge

## Identity

Charles Sturridge

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/charles-sturridge
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** charles-sturridge
- **IMDb ID:** nm0836430
- **TMDB ID:** 77104
- **Wikidata ID:** Q1066169
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sturridge, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1066169, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0836430/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/77104

Director and writer. Born 24 June 1951 in London, England, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Writer
- **Born:** 24 June 1951, London, England, UK
- **Active:** 1960–2010
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 5: 1 acting, 4 directing
- **Frequently works with:** [Alan Grint](https://film.one/person/alan-grint.md), [Baz Taylor](https://film.one/person/baz-taylor.md), [Bob Hird](https://film.one/person/bob-hird.md), [Claude Whatham](https://film.one/person/claude-whatham.md), [Daran Little](https://film.one/person/daran-little.md), [Derek Bennett](https://film.one/person/derek-bennett.md), [Duncan Kenworthy](https://film.one/person/duncan-kenworthy.md), [Gerald Blake](https://film.one/person/gerald-blake.md)
- **BAFTA Television Awards:** 1 BAFTA (1 won)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as director, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1960s 78 (2), 1980s 82 (2), 1990s 73 (1)
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 3, Action & Adventure 2, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 2, Family 1, Soap 1
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sturridge, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1066169, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0836430/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/77104

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*Brideshead Revisited*](https://film.one/tv/brideshead-revisited.md) (83), [*Coronation Street*](https://film.one/tv/coronation-street.md) (74)
- **Peacock:** [*The Storyteller*](https://film.one/tv/the-storyteller.md) (82), [*Gulliver's Travels*](https://film.one/tv/gullivers-travels.md) (73)

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

## Fi1m on Charles Sturridge

> We rate Charles Sturridge for giving actors time to make reserve and embarrassment worth watching. *Brideshead Revisited* also exposes the risk: he can be reluctant to move a scene along.

Jeremy Irons’s Charles Ryder keeps his feelings under control in *Brideshead Revisited* (1981), and the directors give us time to notice the effort. Charles Sturridge and Michael Lindsay-Hogg let reserve and embarrassment shape a scene without insisting that every change be pointed out. We were moved by Irons’s restraint because the small cruelties around Ryder make his self-command feel costly. This is the Sturridge we rate: patient with actors, attentive to what people would rather not say.

His early directing work included *Coronation Street* and *Strangers*, before *Brideshead Revisited* brought him recognition. He then moved between features and television, directing and writing another Waugh adaptation, *A Handful of Dust* (1988). The later miniseries *Longitude* (2000), about clockmaker John Harrison, and *Shackleton* (2002) gave him historical subjects. The television work continued alongside the features, rather than serving simply as a route into them.

Sturridge’s emphasis on giving detail even to characters who appear only once is a useful clue to his priorities. A faithful adaptation still needs people worth spending time with, and his interest in minor parts suggests he knows it. *Brideshead Revisited* rewards that attention through its acting and its sensitivity to small cruelties, although its shared direction means the credit is not his alone. The series gives us room to notice embarrassment without needing it explained at every turn.

The reservation is equally clear: *Brideshead Revisited* sometimes lingers when it should move on, and eleven parts give that habit plenty of room. Some scenes would benefit from less elegance and a quicker exit. That does not cancel the pleasure of watching actors trusted to do such quiet work, but it does make the commitment harder than it needs to be. Our recommendation is to begin there, with time for several sittings and no obligation to admire every pause.

## Biography

Charles Sturridge is an English director and screenwriter. Born in London on 24 June 1951, he was educated at Stonyhurst College and University College, Oxford. He began his career as an actor before directing episodes of series including *Coronation Street* and *Strangers*.

Sturridge gained recognition as director of the 1981 Granada Television adaptation of *Brideshead Revisited*, which he took over mid-production. His other credits include the miniseries *Shackleton* (2002) and *Longitude* (2000), as well as films such as *A Handful of Dust* (1988) and *Gulliver's Travels* (1996). He has received multiple BAFTA awards and Emmy nominations.

He has been married to actress Phoebe Nicholls since 1985; they have three children.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, theguardian.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

### Performed in (1)

- *if....* (1968), Fi1m 82, as Markland — [page](https://film.one/film/if-1968.md)

### Directed (4) — the average rests on these

- *Gulliver's Travels* (1996), Fi1m 73, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/gullivers-travels.md)
- *The Storyteller* (1988), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-storyteller.md)
- *Brideshead Revisited* (1981), Fi1m 83, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/brideshead-revisited.md)
- *Coronation Street* (1960), Fi1m 74, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/coronation-street.md)

## Complete filmography (39)

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

- *COBRA* (2020), series, Director
- *Sanditon* (2019), series, Director
- *MotherFatherSon* (2019), series, Director
- *Strike* (2017), series, Director
- *Marcella* (2016), series, Director
- *Churchill's Secret* (2016), Director
- *Dates* (2013), series, Director
- *Da Vinci's Demons* (2013), series, Director
- *The Scapegoat* (2012), Writer, Director
- *Astonish Me* (2011), Director
- *The Road to Coronation Street* (2010), Director
- *The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency* (2009), series, Director
- *Lassie* (2005), Director, Writer, Producer
- *Andrew and Jeremy Get Married* (2005), Executive Producer
- *Ohio Impromptu* (2002), Director
- *Shackleton* (2002), series, Director, Writer
- *Longitude* (2000), Writer, Director
- *Longitude* (2000), series, Director, Writer, Creator
- *FairyTale: A True Story* (1997), Director
- *Gulliver's Travels* (1996), series, Director — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/tv/gullivers-travels.md)
- *A Foreign Field* (1993), Director
- *Where Angels Fear to Tread* (1991), Director, Screenplay
- *Screen One* (1989), series, Director
- *A Handful of Dust* (1988), Writer, Director
- *The Storyteller: A Story Short* (1988), Director
- *The Storyteller* (1988), series, Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-storyteller.md)
- *Troubles* (1988), series, Writer
- *Aria* (1987), Writer, Director
- *Runners* (1983), Director
- *Soft Targets* (1982), Director
- *Brideshead Revisited* (1981), series, Director — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/brideshead-revisited.md)
- *The Spoils of War* (1980), series, Director
- *Strangers* (1978), series, Director
- *The English Programme* (1976), series, Director
- *Haunted: Poor Girl* (1974), Script
- *Crown Court* (1972), series, Director
- *Play for Today* (1970), series, Director
- *if....* (1968), as Markland — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/if-1968.md)
- *Coronation Street* (1960), series, Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/coronation-street.md)

## Awards

### BAFTA Television Awards — 1 won

- 1982: Best Drama Series (won), for *Brideshead Revisited*

### Primetime Emmy Awards — 0 won, 2 nominated

- 1996: Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special (nominated), for *Gulliver's Travels*
- 1982: Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series, Movie, or Dramatic Special (nominated), for *Great Performances*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© 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/charles-sturridge