Colm McCarthy is a director best known for his work on Peaky Blinders, Sherlock and Endeavour. He was born in Edinburgh and has lived there as well as in Dublin and London. He is happily married and plays a grand total of eight musical instruments all appallingly badly. He did not formally train in film making, instead he just watched loads of films, read a bunch of books and then started shooting stuff with friends. They borrowed film stock and filmed short films, music videos and random "cool shots" to go into montage sequences.
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Biography from TMDB.
- February 16, 1973 (53)
- Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
- Director and producer, also writer
- 18 on MovieCove · 25 credits in all
What are Colm McCarthy's films like?
Across their 7 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Morality and Self.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 3
Light 0 · Serious 0 · Dark 3
A split, not a type: Grounded 2 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0
Gentle 0 · Charged 0 · Intense 3
Steady 0 · Shifting 2 · Whiplash 1
Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0
Slow burn 1 · Even-paced 2 · Relentless 0
Casual 0 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 2
Easy watch 0 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 2
Resolved 0 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Bittersweet5
- Ambiguous2
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Colm McCarthy's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 17 of their 18 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Prime Video (6).
- BritBox
Subscription and free streaming for Colm McCarthy's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
25 credits, 18 with a MovieCove page.
Young Sherlock (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2026)
Bergerac(2025)
Midcredits score: 35th percentile of all shows
Curfew (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)
Bagman(2024)
Midcredits score: 9th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all shows
Lesson 7 (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2020)
Krypton(2018)
Midcredits score: 47th percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all films
Peaky Blinders(2013)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all shows
Endeavour(2012)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all shows
Ripper Street(2012)
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all shows
Black Mirror(2011)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all shows
Injustice(2011)
Midcredits score: 66th percentile of all shows
Outcast(2010)
Midcredits score: 24th percentile of all films
The Deep (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2010)
Sherlock(2010)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all shows
Hunter (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
The Tudors(2007)
Midcredits score: 91st percentile of all shows
Single-Handed(2007)
Midcredits score: 74th percentile of all shows
Footballers' Wives: Extra Time (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2005)
Doctor Who(2005)
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all shows
Hustle(2004)
Midcredits score: 92nd percentile of all showsBaldy McBain (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2004)
MI-5(2002)
Midcredits score: 94th percentile of all shows
Murphy's Law(2003)
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all shows
Career shape
A full career of 25 titles from 2001 to 2026.
Biggest box office
The Girl with All the Gifts (2016)
Highest rated
The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself (2022)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
Awards
Nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2008, Best Drama Serial.
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Colm McCarthy's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 24th percentile, the median of all 3; across a limited sample of 3 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 28th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up10
- 50th to 74th4
- 25th to 49th2
- Below 25th2
Shape of the crowd
None of their 18 titles divides audiences: 9 are Universally Loved.
- Universally Loved9
- Crowd Pleaser5
- Mixed4
Reviewers score the atmosphere 74/100 and the pacing 38/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Is Colm McCarthy's work okay for kids?
Across a limited sample of up to 4 MovieCove titles with content scores.
Severity 0–100 from the Content Guide. Categories with under 10 votes on a title are not counted.
Who does Colm McCarthy work with?
People who share at least 2 of Colm McCarthy's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Sasha Behar shares the most, 2.
Actors
- Sasha BeharShared titles: Bergerac (2025), Injustice (2011)See all 2 shared titles with Sasha Behar
Cinematographers and editors
- Nick Remy MatthewsShared titles: Bagman (2024), The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself (2022)See all 2 shared titles with Nick Remy Matthews
- Darran TiernanShared titles: Outcast (2010), Single-Handed (2007)See all 2 shared titles with Darran Tiernan
- Helen ChapmanShared titles: Outcast (2010), Single-Handed (2007)See all 2 shared titles with Helen Chapman
Producers
- Clare AlanShared titles: Bergerac (2025), Single-Handed (2007)See all 2 shared titles with Clare Alan