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Congratulations onSex Education, both the response to the first season and the announcement of the second season.
Whats all that been like?It has been phenomenal.
Its my first show proper on Netflix.
The immediate response was so warm and so lovely.
Its spoiled me a bit.
I loved it when I read it.
Its, weirdly, very much the needle in the haystack Id been looking for as a British director.
Ive always wanted to do a high-school rom-com, a Hughesian-style high-school experience.
Its always a bit grayer and flatter and ironic, whereas this had a lot of heart and optimism.
We dont celebrate our school years as much.
The attitude tends to be,Fuck this shit, I graduated and Im out of here.
Im not going to look back on any of this.
Its all about the next stage, the graduation, getting the job.
[My brother Sam and I] would watch a film several times over a weekend.
There tended to be a lot of Hughes stuff.
We just loved the world that it took us to.
We didnt know anything about America.
Id never been to Chicago, Illinois.
To us, it was just this other world.
Ive always been a film fan, but that was definitely a huge genre for me.
My dad was my headmaster.
I went to a private school [Lisvane in Wales].
It was quite a posh school, not quite Hogwarts-level, a bit odd and rambling.
That was the surroundings where we were introduced to John Hughes.
Did your dad ever do theRisky Businessdance in the hallway?No, he didnt.
But hes delighted that Im making a show about a headmaster.
A lot of the young actors inSex Educationhadnt done TV before.
You should never feel that what you do now is your first and last chance to get something right.
You have to relax young actors to an extent where they dont feel precious.
He looks and sounds like hes got ten-plus years of experience and hes the most generous collaborator.
Or does it happen more gradually?Probably a bit of both.
You dont want to come in with the hardest thing.
Youve got to give a bit of warm-up time.
Emma [Mackey] and I especially talked about the character of Maeve.
Everybody knows a Maeve from their life or from film.
Its not enough to wear a leather jacket and smoke and look cool.
Its a tricky and really well-developed character to find.
Emma did some amazing work piecing it together, which was gradual.
Dramatically, her moment came in episode three the abortion episode about six weeks into the schedule.
We talked a lot about it quite a lot, but we didnt rehearse it or overthink it.
She did some stuff that was just quietly mind-blowing.
She and Emma bonded immediately.
[Corfield] nailed it and helped Emma and I find the way too.
Youve directed shows that American audiences love, but theres not a lot about you online.
You dont even have a Wikipedia page.
How did you end up directing TV?I graduated from film school in the U.K. in 99.
I couldnt take myself as seriously as everyone else seemed to.
I had friends in the comedy festival world.
Eventually the group [Cardinal Burns] got a break and got a pilot for their sketch show.
That was interesting stuff, but it was very silly and very heightened.
[After several more sitcoms]Catastrophecame and changed everything for me.
The fourth season ofCatastrophehas aired in the U.K. but not yet in the United States.
Did you work on it?No, sadly.
The schedule kept getting delayed.
You mentioned a movie that fell through Im assuming that wasThe Rosie Project.
A lot of directors and actors have been attached.
We were trying to get a script that people are happy with, and to cast the three leads.
Thats what I was hoping to do with it.
I think theyre still hoping to get it made.
A lot of the press coverage ofSex EducationandCatastropheis focused on the great writing and acting.
Its not my specialty.
The old adage is TVs a writers medium, film is a directors medium.
I dont really crave attention.
When you attempt to render something cinematically, it is a bit more noticeable.
OnSex Education, the design is all intentional, the tone is intentional.
As well as dialogue and character, you want to spend time in the world.
I think its the thing I enjoy most about what TVs got to offer directors.
Theres a fable quality to it.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
