---
name: "Christopher Menaul"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/christopher-menaul"
fi1m_id: "christopher-menaul"
imdb_id: "nm0578757"
tmdb_id: 68774
wikidata_id: "Q5112863"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "25 July 1944"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 6
average_fi1m_score: 80
average_as: "director"
average_over: 6
updated: "2026-10-07T16:03:49.793288+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."
---

# Christopher Menaul

## Identity

Christopher Menaul

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/christopher-menaul
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** christopher-menaul
- **IMDb ID:** nm0578757
- **TMDB ID:** 68774
- **Wikidata ID:** Q5112863
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Menaul, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5112863, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0578757/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/68774

Director. Born 25 July 1944 in UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 25 July 1944, UK
- **Active:** 1970–2012
- **Also known as:** Chris Menaul
- **Frequently works with:** [Diarmuid Lawrence](https://film.one/person/diarmuid-lawrence.md), [Jim Hill](https://film.one/person/jim-hill.md), [Alan Grint](https://film.one/person/alan-grint.md), [Anthony Garner ](https://film.one/person/anthony-garner.md), [Ashley Way](https://film.one/person/ashley-way.md), [Baz Taylor](https://film.one/person/baz-taylor.md), [Ben Bolt](https://film.one/person/ben-bolt.md), [Charles Beeson](https://film.one/person/charles-beeson.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 80, as director, over 6 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1970s 81 (2), 1980s 68 (1), 1990s 88 (2), 2010s 74 (1)
- **Score spread:** 3 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 6, Crime 5, Mystery 3, Action & Adventure 2, Comedy 1, Soap 1
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Menaul, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5112863, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0578757/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/68774

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*Prime Suspect*](https://film.one/tv/prime-suspect.md) (88), [*The Sweeney*](https://film.one/tv/the-sweeney.md) (84), [*Ripper Street*](https://film.one/tv/ripper-street.md) (74), [*Casualty*](https://film.one/tv/casualty.md) (68)

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

## Fi1m on Christopher Menaul

> Christopher Menaul is at his strongest with police officers and the pressures of an institution. We rate his handling of ensembles and his attention to motives; his lighter feature work can be polished and thin.

John Thaw and Dennis Waterman give *The Sweeney* (1975) its force and humour, with drab London locations keeping it firmly on the ground. Christopher Menaul directed episodes between 1976 and 1978, so its success cannot simply be claimed as his. But it is a useful place to start with a director whose strengths lie in handling groups of people under pressure. We were unsettled by the violence: it has weight, and the programme is sometimes too fond of the men inflicting it.

After early episodic work that also included *Minder* and *Play for Today*, wider recognition came with the first *Prime Suspect* miniseries (1991). Its pacing and handling of the ensemble suit a police story concerned with how an institution behaves. Menaul pays attention to the motives of the people working inside it, which gives the investigation more to sustain it than the next piece of evidence. His collaborators include the writer Lynda La Plante, an apt association for a director whose interest in crime extends to the people charged with investigating it.

*Fatherland* (1994), adapted from Robert Harris's novel, takes that interest into an alternate-history thriller, while *See No Evil: The Moors Murders* (2006) approaches a British crime case with restraint. Both give him material suited to his strengths: tension sustained through attention to character. His feature work includes the Merchant Ivory-produced period drama *Feast of July* (1995) and *Summer in February* (2013), based on the story of a Cornish artistic community. Moving away from police work has often meant turning to the past, though a historical setting is not itself a reason to recommend his work.

The reservation concerns what happens when polished execution has too little beneath it. *First Night* (2010) exposes that weakness, with insufficient emotional depth or satirical bite to justify the care taken over its presentation. We have more use for the force and humour of *The Sweeney*, even with its troubling enthusiasm for rough handling. Start there, with the caveat that enjoying Thaw and Waterman's company need not mean approving of the conduct.

## Biography

Christopher Menaul is a British film and television director and writer. He was born on 25 July 1944 in the UK.

Menaul began directing in the 1970s, with credits including episodes of the series *The Sweeney* (as Chris Menaul). In 1991 he directed two episodes of the miniseries *Prime Suspect*. His other television work includes episodes of *Ripper Street* (2012), *Zen* (2011) and *Chasing Shadows* (2014), as well as the television films *Fatherland* (1994) and *Killing Jesus* (2015). Feature films he has directed include *Feast of July* (1995), *Summer in February* (2013) and *Another Mother's Son* (2017).

He has received BAFTA awards for his work in television.

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

## On Fi1m (6)

- *Ripper Street* (2012), Fi1m 74, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/ripper-street.md)
- *Homicide: Life on the Street* (1993), Fi1m 89, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/homicide-life-on-the-street.md)
- *Prime Suspect* (1991), Fi1m 88, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/prime-suspect.md)
- *Casualty* (1986), Fi1m 68, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/casualty.md)
- *Minder* (1979), Fi1m 78, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/minder.md)
- *The Sweeney* (1975), Fi1m 84, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-sweeney.md)

## Complete filmography (48)

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

- *Another Mother's Son* (2017), Director
- *i-Lived* (2015), as Bobby Yen (as Chris Mena)
- *Killing Jesus* (2015), Director
- *Chasing Shadows* (2014), series, Director
- *Summer in February* (2013), Director
- *The Murder in Angel Lane* (2013), Director
- *Ripper Street* (2012), series, Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/ripper-street.md)
- *Combat Hospital* (2011), series, Director
- *Zen* (2011), series, Director
- *First Night* (2010), Director, Writer
- *Above Suspicion* (2009), series, Director
- *Saddam's Tribe* (2007), Director
- *See No Evil: The Moors Murders* (2006), series, Director
- *Secret Smile* (2005), series, Director
- *Planespotting* (2005), Director
- *Belonging* (2004), Director
- *Wall of Silence* (2004), Director
- *State of Mind* (2003), Director
- *The Forsyte Saga* (2002), series, Director
- *One Kill* (2000), Director
- *The Passion of Ayn Rand* (1999), Director
- *Bright Hair* (1997), Director
- *Feast of July* (1995), Director
- *Fatherland* (1994), Director
- *Homicide: Life on the Street* (1993), series, Director — Fi1m 89, [page](https://film.one/tv/homicide-life-on-the-street.md)
- *A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia* (1992), Director
- *Prime Suspect* (1991), series, Director — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/prime-suspect.md)
- *Nice Work* (1989), series, Director
- *Precious Bane* (1989), Director
- *Worlds Beyond* (1986), series, Director, Writer
- *Casualty* (1986), series, Director — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/tv/casualty.md)
- *Tandoori Nights* (1985), series, Director
- *Punters* (1984), Director
- *Big Deal* (1984), series, Director
- *The Cry* (1984), Writer, Director
- *The Treatment* (1984), Director
- *Tucker's Luck* (1983), series, Director
- *The Case of the Frightened Lady* (1983), Director
- *Murphy's Mob* (1982), series, Director
- *Minder* (1979), series, Director — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/minder.md)
- *Affront* (1978), Director
- *Target* (1977), series, Director, Writer
- *Dreamboat* (1976), Director
- *Packman's Barn* (1976), Director
- *The Sweeney* (1975), series, Director — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-sweeney.md)
- *Playhouse* (1974), series, Director
- *Second City Firsts* (1973), series, Director
- *Play for Today* (1970), series, Director, Writer

---
© 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/christopher-menaul