---
name: "James Hawes"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/james-hawes"
fi1m_id: "james-hawes"
imdb_id: "nm0369949"
tmdb_id: 30310
wikidata_id: "Q6135721"
roles: ["Director","Producer"]
born: "1 January 2000"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 9
average_fi1m_score: 70
average_as: "director"
average_over: 9
updated: "2026-10-07T15:27:56.930346+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."
---

# James Hawes

## Identity

James Hawes

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/james-hawes
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** james-hawes
- **IMDb ID:** nm0369949
- **TMDB ID:** 30310
- **Wikidata ID:** Q6135721
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hawes, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6135721, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0369949/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/30310

Director and producer. Born 1 January 2000 in Wimbledon, London, England, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer
- **Born:** 1 January 2000, Wimbledon, London, England, UK
- **Active:** 1984–present
- **Also known as:** Джеймс Хоуз
- **Frequently works with:** [Sam Miller](https://film.one/person/sam-miller.md), [Andrew Gunn](https://film.one/person/andrew-gunn-1230489.md), [Catherine Morshead](https://film.one/person/catherine-morshead.md), [Colm McCarthy](https://film.one/person/colm-mccarthy.md), [Douglas Mackinnon](https://film.one/person/douglas-mackinnon.md), [Euros Lyn](https://film.one/person/euros-lyn.md), [Graeme Harper](https://film.one/person/graeme-harper.md), [Jamie Payne](https://film.one/person/jamie-payne.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 70, as director, over 9 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 78 (1), 2010s 74 (3), 2020s 66 (5)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 70 to 69 across 7 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 6 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 8, Mystery 5, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 5, Action & Adventure 2, Crime 2, Action 1
- **Screen time:** 4 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $147m across 2 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hawes, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6135721, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0369949/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/30310

## Streaming the US now

- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Mad Dogs*](https://film.one/tv/mad-dogs.md) (65), [*The Amateur*](https://film.one/film/the-amateur.md) (54)
- **Apple TV:** [*Slow Horses*](https://film.one/tv/slow-horses.md) (82)
- **Netflix:** [*Black Mirror*](https://film.one/tv/black-mirror.md) (81)
- **AMC+:** [*Doctor Who*](https://film.one/tv/doctor-who-2005.md) (78)
- **Hulu:** [*Penny Dreadful*](https://film.one/tv/penny-dreadful.md) (76)
- **HBO Max:** [*Lanterns*](https://film.one/tv/lanterns.md) (68)
- **Pluto TV:** [*One Life*](https://film.one/film/one-life.md) (64)

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

## Fi1m on James Hawes

> James Hawes gives actors time and unlikely stories a convincing everyday setting. We recommend his television more readily than his careful first cinema film: the patience that helps *Slow Horses* can leave *One Life* looking flat.

In *One Life* (2023), James Hawes keeps the camera on Anthony Hopkins and lets the actor do almost nothing. We cried, despite seeing how carefully the film was trying to make us cry. Staying with Hopkins gives his stillness time to affect us, and here the restraint feels like a considered choice rather than a cautious habit. Hawes trusts actors, but he can be too cautious about everything around them.

His television work makes the stronger case for that patience. After directing *Doctor Who* episodes in 2005–2006, he worked on *Black Mirror*, including *Hated in the Nation* and *Smithereens*, and directed the whole first series of *Slow Horses* (2022). We value *Black Mirror* for its straight-faced absurdity and the performances that make its distress matter, though that judgement belongs to the programme rather than to Hawes alone. In *Slow Horses*, Gary Oldman's Jackson Lamb and the office are more rewarding than the ordinary thriller plot.

*One Life* marked his move into cinema, with a script by Lucinda Coxon and Nick Drake. Its plain telling suits Nicholas Winton, but the Prague scenes look like television and the care taken over the story too often leaves it flat. We wanted the direction to be as particular as Hopkins's performance. His second feature, the Rami Malek spy thriller *The Amateur* (2025), took him back towards espionage.

In *Lanterns* (2026), he directs the first two episodes and shares an unhurried approach with fellow directors Geeta Patel and Stephen Williams. Cinematographers Gregory Middleton, Florian Hoffmeister and Armando Salas keep the daylight grey and the nights lit by sodium and headlamps, leaving the ring's green almost alone as a saturated colour. John Paino's cramped sheriff's office and Stephanie Economou's low strings help keep the drama modest in scale. The trouble is that the plot keeps pulling us away from Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre, the programme's strongest reason to watch. Start with the first series of *Slow Horses*, provided an office full of failed spies sounds more appealing than an ingenious thriller plot.

## Biography

James Hawes is a British television and film director. He has worked in British television drama since the mid-1990s and has also produced documentaries for British and American networks.

His credits include episodes of *Doctor Who* (2005–2007), for which he won a BAFTA Cymru award; the television film *Enid* (2009), which earned him a BAFTA nomination for Best Director; *Black Mirror* (2016–2019); *Penny Dreadful* (2013–2015); *Snowpiercer* (2020); *Slow Horses* (2022); and the feature film *One Life* (2023). He is attached to direct episodes of the forthcoming series *Lanterns* (2026). He has also received a Royal Television Society award for *The Challenger Disaster* (2013).

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

## On Fi1m (9)

- *Lanterns* (2026), Fi1m 68, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/lanterns.md)
- *The Amateur* (2025), Fi1m 54, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-amateur.md)
- *One Life* (2023), Fi1m 64, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/one-life.md)
- *Slow Horses* (2022), Fi1m 82, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/slow-horses.md)
- *Snowpiercer* (2020), Fi1m 63, Director, Executive Producer — [page](https://film.one/tv/snowpiercer-2020.md)
- *Penny Dreadful* (2014), Fi1m 76, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/penny-dreadful.md)
- *Black Mirror* (2011), Fi1m 81, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/black-mirror.md)
- *Mad Dogs* (2011), Fi1m 65, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/mad-dogs.md)
- *Doctor Who* (2005), Fi1m 78, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/doctor-who-2005.md)

## Complete filmography (39)

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

- *Lanterns* (2026), series, Director, Executive Producer — Fi1m 68, [page](https://film.one/tv/lanterns.md)
- *The Amateur* (2025), Director — Fi1m 54, [page](https://film.one/film/the-amateur.md)
- *One Life* (2023), Director — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/one-life.md)
- *Slow Horses* (2022), series, Director, Executive Producer — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/slow-horses.md)
- *Raised by Wolves* (2020), series, Director
- *Snowpiercer* (2020), series, Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 63, [page](https://film.one/tv/snowpiercer-2020.md)
- *The Alienist* (2018), series, Director
- *The Mist* (2017), series, Director
- *Genius* (2017), series, Director
- *Undercover* (2016), series, Director
- *Penny Dreadful* (2014), series, Director — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/tv/penny-dreadful.md)
- *The Mill* (2013), series, Director
- *The Challenger Disaster* (2013), Director
- *Black Mirror* (2011), series, Director — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/black-mirror.md)
- *The Murder at Road Hill House* (2011), Director
- *Mad Dogs* (2011), series, Director — Fi1m 65, [page](https://film.one/tv/mad-dogs.md)
- *Pulse* (2010), Director
- *Enid* (2009), Director, Producer
- *The 39 Steps* (2008), Director
- *Merlin* (2008), series, Director
- *Kafka Uncovered* (2008), Writer
- *Fanny Hill* (2007), Director
- *Fanny Hill* (2007), series, Director
- *Miss Marie Lloyd: Queen of the Music Hall* (2007), Director
- *The Chatterley Affair* (2006), Director
- *Doctor Who* (2005), series, Director — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/doctor-who-2005.md)
- *Doctor Who Confidential* (2005), series, Actor
- *A Line in the Sand* (2004), Director
- *Sea of Souls* (2004), series, Director
- *Lawrence of Arabia, the battle for the Arab world* (2003), series, Writer, Producer, Director, Creator
- *Lawrence of Arabia: The Battle for the Arab World* (2003), Director, Writer, Producer
- *Egypt's Golden Empire* (2001), series, Director
- *Without Motive* (2000), series, Director
- *Always and Everyone* (1999), series, Director
- *Holby City* (1999), series, Director
- *The Mrs Bradley Mysteries* (1998), series, Director
- *Staying Alive* (1996), series, Director
- *Against All Odds* (1994), series, Director
- *The Bill* (1984), series, 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/james-hawes