Natalie Bailey is a screenwriter and director, known for her work on TV series in the UK, US and Australia.
Bailey has worked in the production and direction of many TV comedies led by Armando Iannucci, including Time Trumpet, The Thick of It , Veep and Avenue 5 . Other television directing credits which include Pramface , Loaded , Damned and Run for HBO. [2] [3] [4]
She directed the 2021 comedy drama TV miniseries on SBS, The Unusual Suspects . [5] Bailey directed episodes five, six, and seven of the streaming series Joe vs. Carole . [6]
She directed the 2023 drama series Bay of Fires for ABC. [7]
She directed the feature film Audrey .
In 2024, she was set as the lead director of Down Cemetery Road, an adaptation of the Mick Herron novel, starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson. [8]
Christopher J. Morris is an English comedian, radio presenter, actor, and filmmaker. Known for his deadpan, dark humour, surrealism, and controversial subject matter, he has been praised by the British Film Institute for his "uncompromising, moralistic drive".
James Hugh Calum Laurie is an English actor, comedian, musician and writer. He first gained recognition for his work as one half of the English comedy double act Fry and Laurie with Stephen Fry.
Armando Giovanni Iannucci is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer, performer and panellist. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University of Oxford. Starting on BBC Scotland and BBC Radio 4, his early work with Chris Morris on the radio series On the Hour transferred to television as The Day Today.
David Schneider is an English actor, comedian, and director. His acting roles include the role of Tony Hayers, in the Alan Partridge franchise.
The Thick of It is a British comedy television series created, written and directed by Armando Iannucci that satirises the inner workings of British government. It was first broadcast for two short series on BBC Four in 2005, initially with a small cast focusing on a government minister, his advisers and their party's spin-doctor. The cast was significantly expanded for two hour-long specials to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's appointment as prime minister in 2007, which saw new characters forming the opposition party added to the cast. These characters continued when the show switched channels to BBC Two for its third series in 2009. A fourth series about a coalition government was broadcast in 2012, with the last episode transmitted on 27 October 2012.
William James Smith is an English stand-up comedian, screenwriter, novelist, actor and producer. He is known for being part of the writing team of the BBC sitcom The Thick of It and its American HBO counterpart Veep (2012–16). Additionally, he starred as Phil Smith in the former. He is also the creator and showrunner of the Apple TV+ drama thriller Slow Horses (2022–).
Roger Drew is a British illustrator and television screenwriter who was educated at Victoria College, Jersey. He has written material for TV shows such as The Thick of It and won an Emmy for his work on Veep.
Veep is an American political satire comedy television series that aired on HBO from April 22, 2012, to May 12, 2019. The series was created by Armando Iannucci. The protagonist of Veep is Selina Meyer, a fictional Vice President of the United States. The series follows Meyer and her team as they attempt to make their mark and leave a legacy but often instead become mired in day-to-day political games.
Tony Roche is an English television, radio and film comedy writer and producer, best known as a writer of the HBO comedy Veep, the BBC Television series The Thick of It and its film spin-off In the Loop.
Simon John Blackwell is an English comedy writer and producer. He is best known for his work on The Thick of It, In The Loop and Veep, and for his collaborations with Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain on Peep Show, Four Lions and The Old Guys. Blackwell is the creator of the comedy series Back, starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb, as well as Breeders, starring Martin Freeman and Daisy Haggard.
Sean Gray is a British comedy writer, producer and director. He is known for his work on the HBO series Veep, the BAFTA-winning BBC series The Thick of It and Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle and the feature film The Day Shall Come. He is a two-time Emmy-winner and Golden Globe-nominee.
Sarah Christine Smith is an English film director, broadcast producer, and screenwriter. She is the co-founder and former CEO of Locksmith Animation. She is writer and director of the animated feature films Arthur Christmas (2011) and Ron's Gone Wrong (2021). Smith began her career in radio before serving as a television producer for live action British comedy, including as writer for the Armistice news review shows. She later served various other assisting production roles in television, and as writer for the adult animated series I Am Not an Animal. She then joined Aardman Animations as creative director, going on to direct her first feature film Arthur Christmas. She left Aardman and set up Locksmith Animation to direct Ron's Gone Wrong.
Ian Martin is an English comedy writer. Martin was a writer for the BAFTA-winning BBC series The Thick of It. He was famously hired as "swearing consultant" in 2005 by the show's creator, Armando Iannucci, for Series 1 of the political satire and went on to become a full member of the writing team. He won an Emmy for his writing across five series of Veep and was BAFTA nominated for co-writing The Death of Stalin.
The fourth season of the American political comedy television series Veep premiered on April 12, 2015, on HBO in the United States. It consists of ten episodes each running approximately 28 minutes. The season's showrunner and series creator Armando Iannucci exited at the conclusion of the season.
The Death of Stalin is a 2017 political satire black comedy film written and directed by Armando Iannucci and co-written by David Schneider and Ian Martin with Peter Fellows. Based on the French graphic novel La Mort de Staline (2010–2012), the film depicts the internal social and political power struggle among the members of the Soviet Politburo following the death of leader Joseph Stalin in 1953. The French-British-Belgian co-production stars an ensemble cast that includes Steve Buscemi, Simon Russell Beale, Paddy Considine, Rupert Friend, Jason Isaacs, Olga Kurylenko, Michael Palin, Andrea Riseborough, Dermot Crowley, Paul Chahidi, Adrian McLoughlin, Paul Whitehouse, and Jeffrey Tambor.
Avenue 5 is a science fiction comedy television series created by Armando Iannucci that premiered on HBO in the United States on January 19, 2020. It stars Hugh Laurie and Josh Gad in lead roles as captain and owner of a fictional interplanetary cruise ship Avenue 5. HBO produced the series in the United States and Sky UK in the United Kingdom. In February 2020, just days before the COVID-19 pandemic led to worldwide lockdowns, the series was renewed for a second season; filming moved forward in late 2021, with a release date of October 10, 2022. In February 2023, the series was cancelled after two seasons.
"Election Night" is the tenth and final episode of the fourth season of the American television comedy series Veep, and the 38th episode overall. "Election Night" aired on June 14, 2015, on HBO. It was written by Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, and Tony Roche, and directed by Chris Addison. The episode follows the night of the U.S. Presidential Election, in which President Selina Meyer is running against Senator Bill O'Brien. "Election Night" largely takes place in a hotel suite where Selina and her staff are watching the election returns on cable news. At the end of the episode, Selina and O'Brien are tied for electoral votes.
"Testimony" is the ninth episode of the fourth season of Veep and the 37th episode overall. The episode was written by Sean Gray and Will Smith, and directed by Armando Iannucci. It first aired on June 7, 2015. The plot of this bottle episode follows President Meyer's staff undergoing hearings administered by the House Judiciary Committee regarding her campaign's federal data breach. They also must testify about allegations that Selina lobbied to kill her own bill, Families First. She and her staffers scapegoat campaign consultant Bill Ericsson as the mastermind behind the data breach.
The Unusual Suspects is an Australian comedy-drama television series screened on SBS TV from 3 June 2021. The four-part miniseries is directed by Natalie Bailey and Melvin Montalban and produced by Angie Fielder and Polly Staniford. It is written by Jessica Redenbach, Roger Monk and Vonne Patiag, with Margarett Cortez as script consultant. The series is primarily in English, with some parts in Tagalog.
Down Cemetery Road is an upcoming British television series based on the novel of the same name by Mick Herron, adapted by Morwenna Banks and developed by 60Forty Films for Apple TV+.