---
name: "Julian Jarrold"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/julian-jarrold"
fi1m_id: "julian-jarrold"
imdb_id: "nm0418982"
tmdb_id: 29226
wikidata_id: "Q162340"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "15 May 1960"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 8
average_fi1m_score: 77
average_as: "director"
average_over: 8
updated: "2026-10-07T17:43:08.907001+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."
---

# Julian Jarrold

## Identity

Julian Jarrold

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/julian-jarrold
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** julian-jarrold
- **IMDb ID:** nm0418982
- **TMDB ID:** 29226
- **Wikidata ID:** Q162340
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Jarrold, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q162340, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0418982/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/29226

Director. Born 15 May 1960 in Norwich, Norfolk, England, UK.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 15 May 1960, Norwich, Norfolk, England, UK
- **Active:** 1960–2016
- **Also known as:** Джулиан Эдвард Питер Джаррольд, Джулиан Джаррольд
- **Frequently works with:** [Imelda Staunton](https://film.one/person/imelda-staunton.md), [Jimmy McGovern](https://film.one/person/jimmy-mcgovern.md), [Julia Stannard](https://film.one/person/julia-stannard.md), [Monica Dolan](https://film.one/person/monica-dolan.md), [Paul Abbott](https://film.one/person/paul-abbott.md), [Robert Glenister](https://film.one/person/robert-glenister.md), [Toby Jones](https://film.one/person/toby-jones.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 77, as director, over 8 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1960s 74 (1), 1990s 85 (1), 2000s 80 (1), 2010s 76 (5)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 76 to 73 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 4 at 80+, 4 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 7, Crime 4, Mystery 2, Soap 1
- **Screen time:** 2 hours of reviewed films
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Jarrold, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q162340, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0418982/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/29226

## Streaming the US now

- **Apple TV:** [*Cracker*](https://film.one/tv/cracker.md) (85), [*The Witness for the Prosecution*](https://film.one/tv/the-witness-for-the-prosecution.md) (81), [*Coronation Street*](https://film.one/tv/coronation-street.md) (74)
- **Peacock:** [*Appropriate Adult*](https://film.one/tv/appropriate-adult.md) (84)
- **Netflix:** [*The Crown*](https://film.one/tv/the-crown.md) (78)
- **Pluto TV:** [*The Great Train Robbery*](https://film.one/tv/the-great-train-robbery-2013.md) (73)
- **HBO Max:** [*The Girl*](https://film.one/film/the-girl.md) (64)

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

## Fi1m on Julian Jarrold

> Julian Jarrold is a capable director of difficult relationships, particularly when he lets actors underplay them. We value his darker television work most, while finding some of the feature films polished but slight.

Robbie Coltrane makes Fitz funny enough for us to put up with him in *Cracker* (1993). We felt grateful for the humour, because his excesses would otherwise make the company exhausting. Julian Jarrold directed episodes in 1994, so the credit for the series cannot sensibly be laid at his door alone. What we value in it is the willingness to keep a difficult character at the centre, even when the writing presses too hard. It is a useful starting point for Jarrold, whose interest in uncomfortable relationships is more distinctive than his fondness for period settings.

His television work moved through *Great Expectations* (1999) and *White Teeth* (2002) before his feature debut, *Kinky Boots* (2005). The low-key acting in *Great Expectations* is a useful guide to what he does well: he lets performers communicate feeling without pushing towards melodrama. That restraint is worth having in a director of adaptations, where the temptation is often to underline everything. *Kinky Boots* also exposes a limitation: a film can be neatly finished and still feel slight.

*Becoming Jane* (2007) and *Brideshead Revisited* (2008) continued his work with literary subjects. In *Brideshead Revisited*, the attention to period detail is tempered by emotional restraint, rather than allowed to become the entire attraction. We find the atmospheric grit of *Red Riding: 1974* (2009) a more persuasive use of his abilities. Its Super 16mm photography helps give the noir material a roughness that suits it, without requiring the actors to supply all the tension themselves.

The later work includes *The Girl* (2012) and episodes of *The Crown* (2016–2020), with television remaining central rather than becoming something he had outgrown. We would be wary of judging him chiefly by the literary features, which offer only part of the picture. Start with *Cracker*, accepting that its force comes from several hands. Coltrane makes the discomfort worthwhile; nobody is obliged to find Fitz agreeable.

## Biography

Julian Jarrold is a British film and television director. He began his career directing television series in the 1980s and 1990s, including episodes of *Cracker* (1993).

He directed the feature films *Kinky Boots* (2005), *Becoming Jane* (2007), *Brideshead Revisited* (2008) and *A Royal Night Out* (2015), as well as episodes of *The Crown* (2016). He has received BAFTA nominations for his television work.

Jarrold was born in Norwich and is a member of the family that founded Jarrolds of Norwich in 1823. He was educated at Gresham's School, Holt, and Trinity & All Saints College, Leeds.

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

## On Fi1m (8)

- *The Crown* (2016), Fi1m 78, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-crown.md)
- *The Witness for the Prosecution* (2016), Fi1m 81, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-witness-for-the-prosecution.md)
- *The Great Train Robbery* (2013), Fi1m 73, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-great-train-robbery-2013.md)
- *The Girl* (2012), Fi1m 64, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/the-girl.md)
- *Appropriate Adult* (2011), Fi1m 84, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/appropriate-adult.md)
- *Red Riding* (2009), Fi1m 80, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/red-riding.md)
- *Cracker* (1993), Fi1m 85, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/cracker.md)
- *Coronation Street* (1960), Fi1m 74, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/coronation-street.md)

## Complete filmography (45)

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

- *Betrayal* (2026), series, Director
- *A Very Royal Scandal* (2024), series, Director, Executive Producer
- *The Good Mothers* (2023), series, Director
- *This England* (2022), series, Director
- *Sulphur & White* (2020), Director
- *Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams* (2017), series, Director
- *The Witness for the Prosecution* (2016), series, Director — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-witness-for-the-prosecution.md)
- *The Crown* (2016), series, Director — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-crown.md)
- *A Royal Night Out* (2015), Director
- *The Great Train Robbery* (2013), series, Director — Fi1m 73, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-great-train-robbery-2013.md)
- *Rogue* (2013), series, Director
- *The Girl* (2012), Director — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/film/the-girl.md)
- *Appropriate Adult* (2011), series, Director — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/appropriate-adult.md)
- *Worried About the Boy* (2010), Director
- *Red Riding: The Year of Our Lord 1974* (2009), Director
- *Red Riding* (2009), series, Director — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/red-riding.md)
- *Brideshead Revisited* (2008), Director
- *Becoming Jane* (2007), Director
- *Kinky Boots* (2005), Director
- *Anonymous Rex* (2004), Director
- *The Hotel In Amsterdam* (2004), Director
- *Canterbury Tales* (2003), series, Director
- *White Teeth* (2002), series, Director
- *White Teeth* (2002), Director
- *Crime and Punishment* (2002), Director, Writer
- *Crime and Punishment* (2002), series, Director
- *Never Never* (2000), series, Director
- *All the King's Men* (1999), Director
- *Great Expectations* (1999), Director
- *Great Expectations* (1999), series, Director
- *Painted Lady* (1997), series, Director
- *Touching Evil* (1997), series, Director
- *Silent Witness* (1996), series, Director
- *Some Kind of Life* (1995), Director
- *Fighting for Gemma* (1993), Director
- *Cracker* (1993), series, Director — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/tv/cracker.md)
- *Crime Story* (1992), series, Director
- *All Good Friends: The Case of the Handless Corpse* (1992), Director
- *Wilderness Edge* (1992), series, Director
- *Medics* (1990), series, Director
- *He-Play* (1990), series, Director, Writer
- *Cluedo* (1990), series, Director
- *Children's Ward* (1989), series, Director
- *Dramarama* (1983), series, Director
- *Coronation Street* (1960), series, Director — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/tv/coronation-street.md)

---
© 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/julian-jarrold