---
name: "Simon Cellan Jones"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/simon-cellan-jones"
fi1m_id: "simon-cellan-jones"
imdb_id: "nm0148116"
tmdb_id: 144798
wikidata_id: "Q7518443"
roles: ["Director","Producer"]
born: "6 November 1963"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 8
average_fi1m_score: 80
average_as: "director"
average_over: 8
updated: "2026-10-07T14:51:43.893333+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."
---

# Simon Cellan Jones

## Identity

Simon Cellan Jones

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/simon-cellan-jones
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** simon-cellan-jones
- **IMDb ID:** nm0148116
- **TMDB ID:** 144798
- **Wikidata ID:** Q7518443
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Cellan_Jones, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7518443, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0148116/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/144798

Director and producer. Born 6 November 1963.

## Details

- **Work:** Director, Producer
- **Born:** 6 November 1963
- **Active:** 1984–present
- **Also known as:** Simon Cellan-Jones
- **Frequently works with:** [Brad Anderson](https://film.one/person/brad-anderson.md), [David Petrarca](https://film.one/person/david-petrarca.md), [David Simon](https://film.one/person/david-simon.md), [Eric Overmyer](https://film.one/person/eric-overmyer.md), [Jean Stewart](https://film.one/person/jean-stewart.md), [Rob Bailey](https://film.one/person/rob-bailey.md), [Rory Kinnear](https://film.one/person/rory-kinnear.md), [Sarah Harding](https://film.one/person/sarah-harding.md)
- **Average Fi1m score:** 80, as director, over 8 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 86 (2), 2000s 84 (1), 2010s 76 (4), 2020s 76 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 78 to 74 across 6 titles
- **Score spread:** 5 at 80+, 3 at 60–79, 0 under 60
- **Genres:** Drama 8, War & Politics 4, Crime 2, Sci-Fi & Fantasy 2, Action & Adventure 1, Mystery 1
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Cellan_Jones, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7518443, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0148116/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/144798

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Generation Kill*](https://film.one/tv/generation-kill.md) (84), [*Treme*](https://film.one/tv/treme.md) (82), [*Boardwalk Empire*](https://film.one/tv/boardwalk-empire.md) (80), [*Years and Years*](https://film.one/tv/years-and-years.md) (79)
- **Apple TV:** [*Cracker*](https://film.one/tv/cracker.md) (85)
- **Netflix:** [*The Diplomat*](https://film.one/tv/the-diplomat.md) (76)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*The Expanse*](https://film.one/tv/the-expanse.md) (64)

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

## Fi1m on Simon Cellan Jones

> Simon Cellan Jones is a director worth watching for the actors: he keeps humour and awkward relationships alive inside busy television drama. We like that instinct, though *The Diplomat* needs more political scrutiny than good company can supply.

Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell making each other’s lives difficult gives *The Diplomat* (2023) its strongest reason to keep watching. Simon Cellan Jones directed the first two episodes, helping establish a tone in which prickly relationships have as much pull as the political thriller. We enjoyed their friction more than the politics, because the pair remained good company while the series left too much insufficiently examined. That is a useful place to begin with Cellan Jones: he knows how to keep an audience interested in the people inside a thriller.

*Cracker* (1993) and *Our Friends in the North* (1996) were important early television credits, with the latter drawing on his strength with ensembles. His first feature, *Some Voices* (2000), came before *Generation Kill* (2008) opened the way to more American television. His work stretches from British social-realist drama into action, science fiction and political thrillers. What carries across those changes is a practical skill: handling an ensemble so the audience has somebody worth following, even when the surrounding story has plenty of other demands on its attention.

We should be careful about how much of a series’ success we assign to the director of its opening episodes. Russell and Sewell are the reason we recommend *The Diplomat*, and the less convincing politics remain a sizeable qualification. Still, establishing that mixture of humour and difficult relationships is consequential work. It gives the actors room to make a thriller enjoyable without requiring everyone in it to be agreeable, and suits a director frequently entrusted with pilots and early episodes.

*The Family Plan* (2023) brought him back to features and into collaboration with Mark Wahlberg. *Arthur the King* (2024) and *The Family Plan 2* (2025) continued that feature work. The practical action and location work of *The Family Plan* and its sequel give him plenty to manage alongside the family relationships. Start with *The Diplomat* for Russell and Sewell, with no expectation that their company will make its politics more convincing.

## Biography

Simon Cellan Jones (born 1963) is a British television and film director. He is the son of director James Cellan Jones and half-brother of journalist Rory Cellan-Jones.

He began his career as a production assistant in the mid-1980s on series such as *Edge of Darkness*. By the late 1980s he had progressed to directing, with credits including episodes of *Cracker* (1993) and *Our Friends in the North* (1996). His first feature film, *Some Voices* (2000), earned a nomination for Best Newcomer at the British Academy Film Awards. Other credits include *Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking* (2004) and *The Trial of Tony Blair* (2007).

Later work encompasses episodes of *Boardwalk Empire* (2010), *Jessica Jones* (2015), *The Expanse* (2018), *See* (2021) and the first two episodes of *The Diplomat* (2023), as well as the feature films *The Family Plan* (2023) and *Arthur the King* (2024).

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

## On Fi1m (8)

- *The Diplomat* (2023), Fi1m 76, Executive Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-diplomat.md)
- *Years and Years* (2019), Fi1m 79, Executive Producer, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/years-and-years.md)
- *The Expanse* (2015), Fi1m 64, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/the-expanse.md)
- *Boardwalk Empire* (2010), Fi1m 80, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/boardwalk-empire.md)
- *Treme* (2010), Fi1m 82, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/treme.md)
- *Generation Kill* (2008), Fi1m 84, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/generation-kill.md)
- *Our Friends in the North* (1996), Fi1m 88, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/our-friends-in-the-north.md)
- *Cracker* (1993), Fi1m 85, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/cracker.md)

## Complete filmography (48)

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

- *The Family Plan 2* (2025), Director, Executive Producer
- *Arthur the King* (2024), Director
- *The Family Plan* (2023), Director
- *The Diplomat* (2023), series, Director, Executive Producer — Fi1m 76, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-diplomat.md)
- *See* (2019), series, Director
- *Years and Years* (2019), series, Executive Producer, Director — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/tv/years-and-years.md)
- *Shooter* (2016), series, Director
- *The Expanse* (2015), series, Director — Fi1m 64, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-expanse.md)
- *Marvel's Jessica Jones* (2015), series, Director
- *Ballers* (2015), series, Director
- *Bloodline* (2015), series, Director
- *Manhattan* (2014), series, Director
- *Power* (2014), series, Director
- *Klondike* (2014), series, Director, Creator
- *The Politician's Husband* (2013), series, Director
- *Magic City* (2012), series, Director
- *The Borgias* (2011), series, Director
- *Boardwalk Empire* (2010), series, Director — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/boardwalk-empire.md)
- *Treme* (2010), series, Director — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/treme.md)
- *On Expenses* (2010), Director
- *How to Make It in America* (2010), series, Director
- *Paradox* (2009), series, Director
- *Generation Kill* (2008), series, Director — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/generation-kill.md)
- *The Trial of Tony Blair* (2007), Director
- *Coup!* (2006), Director
- *The Queen's Sister* (2005), Director
- *Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking* (2004), Director
- *Eroica* (2003), Director
- *The One and Only* (2002), Director
- *Some Voices* (2000), Director
- *Storm Damage* (2000), Director
- *In Your Dreams* (1997), Director
- *Our Friends in the North* (1996), series, Director — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/tv/our-friends-in-the-north.md)
- *Rik Mayall Presents: The Big One* (1995), Director
- *The Riff Raff Element* (1994), series, Director
- *Cracker* (1993), series, Director — Fi1m 85, [page](https://film.one/tv/cracker.md)
- *Rik Mayall Presents* (1993), series, Director
- *Bitter Harvest* (1992), Director
- *Came Out, It Rained, Went Back In Again* (1991), Producer
- *The Missing Finger* (1991), Director
- *Medics* (1990), series, Director
- *Looking After Number One* (1990), Director
- *Streetwise* (1989), series, Director
- *ScreenPlay Firsts* (1987), series, Director
- *ScreenPlay* (1986), series, Director
- *The Bill* (1984), series, Director
- *Sea-Change* (1976), as Schoolboy
- *Centre Play* (1973), series, as Schoolboy

## Awards

### Other awards — 0 won, 2 nominated

- Hugo Awards 2019: Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form (nominated), for *Abaddon's Gate*
- European Film Award for European Discovery of the Year 2000: European Film Award for European Discovery of the Year (nominated), for *Some Voices*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© 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/simon-cellan-jones