---
name: "Jonny Campbell"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/jonny-campbell"
fi1m_id: "jonny-campbell"
imdb_id: "nm0132600"
tmdb_id: 59104
wikidata_id: "Q6275724"
roles: ["Director"]
reviewed_on_fi1m: 8
average_fi1m_score: 74
average_as: "director"
average_over: 8
updated: "2026-10-07T18:19:31.646873+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."
---

# Jonny Campbell

## Identity

Jonny Campbell

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/jonny-campbell
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** jonny-campbell
- **IMDb ID:** nm0132600
- **TMDB ID:** 59104
- **Wikidata ID:** Q6275724
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonny_Campbell_(director), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6275724, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0132600/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/59104

Director.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Active:** 1984–present
- **Also known as:** Jonathan Campbell
- **Frequently works with:** [Catherine Morshead](https://film.one/person/catherine-morshead.md), [Jamie Payne](https://film.one/person/jamie-payne.md), [Matthew Graham](https://film.one/person/matthew-graham.md), [Alice Troughton](https://film.one/person/alice-troughton.md), [Alrick Riley](https://film.one/person/alrick-riley.md), [Andrew Gunn](https://film.one/person/andrew-gunn-1230489.md), [Antonia Bird](https://film.one/person/antonia-bird.md), [Bill Anderson](https://film.one/person/bill-anderson.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 74, as director, over 8 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 2000s 74 (4), 2010s 77 (3), 2020s 70 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 73 to 70 across 5 titles
- **Score spread:** 0 at 80+, 8 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 7, Action & Adventure 3, Crime 3, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 3, Comedy 2, Western 1
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonny_Campbell_(director), https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6275724, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0132600/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/59104

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*Informer*](https://film.one/tv/informer.md) (78), [*Spooks*](https://film.one/tv/spooks.md) (77), [*Shameless*](https://film.one/tv/shameless.md) (75), [*Ashes to Ashes*](https://film.one/tv/ashes-to-ashes.md) (64)
- **AMC+:** [*In the Flesh*](https://film.one/tv/in-the-flesh.md) (78), [*Doctor Who*](https://film.one/tv/doctor-who-2005.md) (78)
- **Disney+:** [*Am I Being Unreasonable?*](https://film.one/tv/am-i-being-unreasonable.md) (70)

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

## Fi1m on Jonny Campbell

> Jonny Campbell is good at letting a laugh leave us uneasy. We rate the darker character work in *Am I Being Unreasonable?*; his handling of the shifts between comedy and mystery is less assured.

In *Am I Being Unreasonable?* (2022), a laugh does not always clear the discomfort from a scene. Jonny Campbell's direction is strongest when it lets that discomfort remain, giving the darker character scenes room without treating each joke as permission to relax. We felt uneasy after laughing, because those passages leave us unsure how warmly to regard the people who have amused us. The actors have made the difficult feelings convincing enough that we want to stay with them. It is good work, though the first series is too uneven to make every move between comedy and mystery convincing.

Comedy was part of his work early on, with *Phoenix Nights* (2001), before the feature *Alien Autopsy* (2006) and television assignments including *Doctor Who* (2010). *In the Flesh* (2013), a zombie drama with dark humour, offered another setting in which laughter and darker material had to coexist. Those credits make it difficult to draw a useful line between a comic phase and a serious one. *The Casual Vacancy* (2015) brought a large ensemble and shifting tones, while his work on *Westworld* (2016) took him into science fiction again. His focus on character-led stories gives us a better way of assessing the work than simply noting how many genres he has tried.

That approach serves Daisy May Cooper and Selin Hizli, the creators and stars of *Am I Being Unreasonable?*, particularly well when Campbell lets a difficult feeling hold our attention. The trouble comes when the series moves on before the performances have finished rewarding it: the mystery sometimes interrupts, and some jokes feel like interruptions too. The darker passages are often more assured than the openly comic ones, which can make a change of mood feel like an unwelcome interruption. We would like more patience with the actors at those points, rather than another reason to reconsider what sort of programme we are watching. Try the first series for Cooper and Hizli, but expect the mystery to get in their way.

## Biography

Jonny Campbell is a British film and television director. He studied French and German at Durham University and began his career at Granada TV working on documentaries before moving into drama.

His credits include directing episodes of *Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights* (2001), *Spooks* (2004), *Ashes to Ashes* (2008), *Doctor Who* (2010), *In the Flesh* (2013), *Westworld* (2016), *Dracula* (2020) and *Am I Being Unreasonable?* (2022, also as executive producer). He has also directed the films *Alien Autopsy* (2006) and *Cold Storage* (2026).

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

## On Fi1m (8)

- *Am I Being Unreasonable?* (2022), Fi1m 70, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/am-i-being-unreasonable.md)
- *Informer* (2018), Fi1m 78, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/informer.md)
- *Westworld* (2016), Fi1m 74, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/westworld-2016.md)
- *In the Flesh* (2013), Fi1m 78, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/in-the-flesh.md)
- *Ashes to Ashes* (2008), Fi1m 64, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/ashes-to-ashes.md)
- *Doctor Who* (2005), Fi1m 78, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/doctor-who-2005.md)
- *Shameless* (2004), Fi1m 75, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/shameless.md)
- *Spooks* (2002), Fi1m 77, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/spooks.md)

## Complete filmography (24)

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

- *Cold Storage* (2026), Director
- *Am I Being Unreasonable?* (2022), series, Director — Fi1m 70, [page](https://film.one/tv/am-i-being-unreasonable.md)
- *Dracula* (2020), series, Director
- *Informer* (2018), series, Director — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/informer.md)
- *The Last Post* (2017), series, Director
- *Westworld* (2016), series, Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/westworld-2016.md)
- *The Casual Vacancy* (2015), series, Director
- *In the Flesh* (2013), series, Director — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/in-the-flesh.md)
- *Eric & Ernie* (2011), Director
- *Ashes to Ashes* (2008), series, Director — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/tv/ashes-to-ashes.md)
- *Alien Autopsy* (2006), Director
- *Doctor Who* (2005), series, Director — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/doctor-who-2005.md)
- *Shameless* (2004), series, Director — Fi1m 75, [page](https://film.one/tv/shameless.md)
- *Death in Holy Orders* (2003), series, Director
- *Spooks* (2002), series, Director — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/tv/spooks.md)
- *Born and Bred* (2002), series, Director
- *Judge John Deed* (2001), series, Director
- *Phoenix Nights* (2001), series, Director
- *Glasgow Kiss* (2000), series, Director
- *Dream Team* (1997), series, Director
- *Two Minutes* (1997), Director
- *Peak Practice* (1993), series, Director
- *The Bill* (1984), series, Director
- *Hercule*, 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/jonny-campbell