Natalie Bailey is good at letting dry comedy survive a move into thriller territory. Her work on Down Cemetery Road gives us reason to recommend her, though the series sometimes takes too long to get moving.
Fi1m perspective
In Down Cemetery Road (2025), Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson are at their most entertaining when they irritate each other. Natalie Bailey is its lead director, and the series gives us good reason to value her handling of comedy within a thriller. Alongside fellow directors Börkur Sigthorsson and Sam Donovan, she lets the action become forceful without losing the dry humour. The actors remain alert even when the story slows, so there is still pleasure in watching them while we wait for the next development.
Her work with Armando Iannucci helps explain that assurance with comedy. On The Thick of It (2012), she followed earlier production work with two directing assignments in the fourth series. She later directed three episodes of his space comedy Avenue 5 (2020), starring Hugh Laurie. Satire and ensemble work recur in her credits, and the friction between the leads of Down Cemetery Road makes good use of that experience. She allows their irritation to remain entertaining as the suspense grows.
The move into features came with the black comedy Audrey (2024), after Australian series work including The Unusual Suspects (2021) and Bay of Fires (2023). Bailey has put it plainly: “Dark comedy is my passion.” Audrey combines that humour with character-led pathos, keeping her first feature close to interests established in television. It is a change of format rather than an obvious attempt to leave the comedy credits behind.
The reservation is pace. We grew impatient with Down Cemetery Road because its performances stayed alert while the plot delayed the next development. Across eight episodes, those stretches matter, even if responsibility for them cannot sensibly be assigned to one of three directors. Once the story gathers speed, the suspense earns the wait, and we recommend the series with that qualification. Start there for Bailey, particularly if a thriller needs a little human bad temper to keep your attention.
Biography
Natalie Bailey is an Australian screenwriter and director. She emigrated to the UK from Australia in 2000 and has directed television series in the UK, US and Australia.
Her credits include episodes of The Thick of It (2005) and Avenue 5 (2020), both associated with Armando Iannucci. She directed the miniseries The Unusual Suspects (2021) and Joe vs. Carole (2022), as well as Bay of Fires (2023). Bailey served as lead director on the series Down Cemetery Road (2025). Her feature directorial debut was the 2024 comedy Audrey.
