--- name: "Chris Morris" canonical: "https://film.one/person/chris-morris" fi1m_id: "chris-morris" imdb_id: "nm0606439" tmdb_id: 117794 wikidata_id: "Q552780" roles: ["Writer","Actor","Director"] born: "15 June 1962" reviewed_on_fi1m: 10 average_as: "writer" average_over: 1 updated: "2026-10-03T21:36:25.105872+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." --- # Chris Morris ## Identity Chris Morris - **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/chris-morris - **Type:** Person - **Fi1m ID:** chris-morris - **IMDb ID:** nm0606439 - **TMDB ID:** 117794 - **Wikidata ID:** Q552780 - **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Morris_(satirist), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q552780, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0606439/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/117794 Writer and actor. Born 15 June 1962 in Bristol, England, UK. ## Details - **Work:** Writer, Actor, Director - **Born:** 15 June 1962, Bristol, England, UK - **Active:** 1994–2012 - **Also known as:** Massingberd Stitt, Christopher Morris - **Titles on Fi1m:** 10: 4 acting, 3 directing, 1 writing, 2 other - **Frequently works with:** [Armando Iannucci](https://film.one/person/armando-iannucci.md), [Derrin Schlesinger](https://film.one/person/derrin-schlesinger.md), [Jesse Armstrong](https://film.one/person/jesse-armstrong.md), [Richard Ayoade](https://film.one/person/richard-ayoade.md), [Simon Blackwell](https://film.one/person/simon-blackwell.md), [Tim Kirkby](https://film.one/person/tim-kirkby.md) - **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 86 (4), 2000s 75 (2), 2010s 86 (3), 2020s 81 (1) - **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Morris_(satirist), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q552780, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0606439/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/117794 ## Streaming the US now - **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Four Lions*](https://film.one/film/four-lions.md) (94) - **HBO Max:** [*Veep*](https://film.one/tv/veep.md) (82) - **BritBox:** [*The IT Crowd*](https://film.one/tv/the-it-crowd.md) (76) For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country. ## Fi1m on Chris Morris > Chris Morris gives nonsense the voice of authority, and we rate his television satire highly. His longer stories work best when he lets us care about foolish people, though he can keep a joke going past its usefulness. In *The Day Today* (1994), Morris makes Patrick Marber’s economics correspondent admit that he has not read the report he is discussing. We winced because the bullying was familiar from real news programmes. Created with Armando Iannucci, the series gets the bulletin’s rhythms right before making its sentences ridiculous. Dennis De Groot and Jo Sutherland give him a newsroom with a raised desk and blue light; Andrew Gillman directs as though none of this needs explaining. This remains Morris’s strongest territory: people who sound certain while saying things that cannot survive a moment’s thought. *Brass Eye* (1997) makes that certainty more intimidating, with Morris’s Ted Maul delivering nonsense as though disputing it would be a serious mistake. Director Michael Cumming keeps the performances sober, while Gary Dollner’s editing sends the next joke past before the previous one has quite registered. Morris and Jonathan Whitehead supply music equally persuaded of the programme’s importance. The precision is what makes it funny, although the aggression wears us down if we watch too much at once. The move to sustained stories exposes a weakness: Morris sometimes repeats a joke instead of developing the people telling it. *Nathan Barley* (2005), created with Charlie Brooker, keeps demonstrating how foolish its media crowd are after we have understood. Danny Cohen’s flat grey streets and sickly green parties refuse them the glamour they imagine, and Julian Barratt gives the series someone worth caring about. There is sharp observation here, but by the fourth episode the series is repeating itself. His first feature, *Four Lions* (2010), is the more rewarding change of direction. Writing with Simon Blackwell, Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, Morris finds comedy in aspiring suicide bombers trying to agree with one another. Riz Ahmed helps make their need for approval troublingly human, without making their intended violence seem harmless. The middle repeats demonstrations of foolishness when the relationships need to change. Yet we care about these men, which makes the laughter harder to dismiss than the comfortable business of spotting another media idiot. Directing episodes of *Veep* (2012) puts Morris’s interest in humiliation to work among other people’s characters. He is one of several directors keeping the camera alert to the flinch after an insult. His second feature, *The Day Shall Come* (2019), extends the interest in terrorism to FBI sting operations, with Armstrong again co-writing. Start with the news programmes, then try *Four Lions* with someone prepared to discuss why they were laughing. ## Biography Chris Morris is an English satirist, writer, director, actor and composer. He created and starred in the spoof news programmes *The Day Today* (1994) and *Brass Eye* (1997), on which he also wrote, produced and composed music. He appeared as Peter Baxendale Thomas in *I'm Alan Partridge* (1997). Morris later directed and co-wrote the feature films *Four Lions* (2010) and *The Day Shall Come* (2019). His other television work includes co-writing and directing *Nathan Barley* (2005) and directing episodes of *Veep* (2012). He began his career in radio, contributing to BBC Radio 4's *On the Hour*. *Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, pbjmanagement.co.uk.* ## On Fi1m (10) ### Performed in (4) - *The IT Crowd* (2006), Fi1m 76, as Denholm Reynholm — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-it-crowd.md) - *Brass Eye* (1997), Fi1m 86, as Christopher Morris / Ted Maul / Various Characters — [page](https://film.one/tv/brass-eye.md) - *I'm Alan Partridge* (1997), Fi1m 88, as Peter Baxendale Thomas — [page](https://film.one/tv/im-alan-partridge.md) - *The Day Today* (1994), Fi1m 86, as Christopher Morris / Various Characters — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-day-today.md) ### Directed (3) - *Veep* (2012), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/veep.md) - *Four Lions* (2010), Fi1m 94, as Commentator on End Credits — [page](https://film.one/film/four-lions.md) - *Nathan Barley* (2005), Fi1m 74, as Place VO (voice) — [page](https://film.one/tv/nathan-barley.md) ### Wrote (1) — the average rests on these - *Black Mirror* (2011), Fi1m 81, Original Story — [page](https://film.one/tv/black-mirror.md) ### Also credited (2) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited - *Bait* (2026), Fi1m 81, Thanks — [page](https://film.one/tv/bait-2026.md) - *Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge* (1994), Fi1m 82, as Matt (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/tv/knowing-me-knowing-you-with-alan-partridge.md) ## Complete filmography (16) Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page. - *Bait* (2026), series, Thanks — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/bait-2026.md) - *The Day Shall Come* (2019), Director, Writer, Original Music Composer, Producer - *Oxide Ghosts: The Brass Eye Tapes* (2017), Writer - *The Double* (2014), as Workers' Services Executive - *Veep* (2012), series, Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/veep.md) - *Black Mirror* (2011), series, Original Story — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/black-mirror.md) - *Four Lions* (2010), as Commentator on End Credits · Director, Writer — Fi1m 94, [page](https://film.one/film/four-lions.md) - *Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle* (2009), series, as Interviewer - *Cinema 16: European Short Films (European Edition)* (2006), Director - *The IT Crowd* (2006), series, as Denholm Reynholm — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-it-crowd.md) - *Nathan Barley* (2005), series, as Place VO (voice) · Director, Writer, Original Music Composer, Creator — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/nathan-barley.md) - *My Wrongs #8245–8249 & 117* (2002), as Rothko (voice) · Director, Screenplay - *Jam* (2000), series, as Various · Music, Sound Designer, Producer, Director, Writer, Creator - *I'm Alan Partridge* (1997), series, as Peter Baxendale Thomas — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/im-alan-partridge.md) - *Brass Eye* (1997), series, Christopher Morris / Ted Maul / Various Characters, Writer, Original Music Composer, Producer, Creator — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/brass-eye.md) - *The Day Today* (1994), series, Christopher Morris / Various Characters, Writer, Producer, Original Music Composer, Creator — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-day-today.md) ## Gallery - ![Chris Morris](https://film.one/media/person/60205/gallery-07eae5c7d630.jpg) Chris Morris — che (Please credit as "Petr Novák, Wikipedia" in case you use this outside Wikimedia projects.), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7c/Chris_Morris_2010.jpg/1280px-Chris_Morris_2010.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail) - ![Chris Morris cropped from a photo at the Block the Bridge Block The Bill Demo, Westminster Bridge. Colour levels adjusted (2011)](https://film.one/media/person/60205/gallery-10e434d88a74.jpg) Chris Morris cropped from a photo at the Block the Bridge Block The Bill Demo, Westminster Bridge. Colour levels adjusted (2011) — Loz Flowers, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Chris_morris_crop_levels_adjusted.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled) --- © 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/chris-morris