Jesse Armstrong
Armstrong in 2023
Born	Jesse David Armstrong (1970-12-13)13 December 1970 (age 54) Oswestry,Shropshire, England
Education	University of Manchester
Occupation(s)	Screenwriter, producer
Years active	2000–present
Children	2

Jesse David Armstrong (born 13 December 1970) is an English screenwriter and producer. Known for writing for a string of several critically acclaimedBritish comedy series as well assatirical dramas, he has received numerous accolades including twoBAFTA TV Awards, threeGolden Globe Awards, threeWGA Awards, and eightEmmy Awards in addition to nominations for anAcademy Award and twoBAFTA Film Awards.

He first gained prominence co-creating the British comedy showsPeep Show (2003–2015) andFresh Meat (2011–2016) with his writing partnerSam Bain. During this time he wrote for the political satire seriesThe Thick of It (2005–2009) and co-wroteIn the Loop (2009), the latter of which earned himOscar andBAFTA nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay. He also co-wrote the filmsFour Lions (2010) andDownhill (2020). Armstrong wrote and directed television filmMountainhead (2025).

He gained acclaim for creating theHBO comedy-drama seriesSuccession (2018–2023) earning four consecutive wins of thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for writing episodes of thefirst,second,third andfourth seasons ofSuccession.

Armstrong was born inOswestry on theEngland–Wales border.^[1] His father was a further education teacher who became a crime novelist in the 1990s, while his mother worked in nursery schools. He attended a comprehensive school in Oswestry before studying American Studies atthe University of Manchester, spending a year abroad inMassachusetts.^[2] In 1995, he began to work as a researcher for theLabour MPDoug Henderson, initially without payment.^[3] At the same time, he acted as a consultant on politics forRory Bremner's production company. He subsequently worked as a painter and decorator.^[4]

Armstrong met his writing partnerSam Bain while at the University of Manchester,^[5] living with him in his final year. They began writing together after they graduated, when they had both moved to London.^[4] At the beginning of their writing career, Armstrong and Bain wrote for the Channel 4 sketch showSmack the Pony and the children's showsThe Queen's Nose andMy Parents Are Aliens.^[6] They went on to create and writePeep Show,BBC One sitcomThe Old Guys, and Channel 4 comedy dramasFresh Meat andBabylon. They also wrote for theBBC Radio 4 sketch showThat Mitchell and Webb Sound, starringPeep Show's two main actorsDavid Mitchell andRobert Webb, and itsBBC Two adaptationThat Mitchell and Webb Look.Peep Show has won several writing awards,^[7] including a BAFTA for Best Situation Comedy in 2008.^[8]

To date, Armstrong and Bain have written two films together – the 2007 comedyMagicians, and, alongsideChris Morris, the 2010 terrorism satireFour Lions. Armstrong and Bain received theWriters' Guild of Great Britain Award at theBritish Comedy Awards 2010. In 2012 both Armstrong and Bain were featured on the TV industry journalBroadcast's 'Hot 100' list, highlighting the most successful people in UK television.^[9] In 2012, Armstrong and Bain wrote the Channel 4 comedy pilotBad Sugar, a spoof ofDynasty-style soap operas, which starsOlivia Colman,Julia Davis andSharon Horgan, all of whom also co-conceived the show.^[10] In 2014, Armstrong, withDanny Boyle, Robert Jones and Sam Bain, co-created the Channel 4comedy dramaBabylon. Armstrong wrote the first and last of the six initial episodes and co-wrote the pilot with Sam Bain.

AlongsideArmando Iannucci,Simon Blackwell andTony Roche, Armstrong wrote for the first three series^[11] of the BAFTA-winning BBC Four comedyThe Thick of It, and its 2009 film spin-offIn the Loop.In The Loop was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay in 2009, and won Best British Screenplay at the2009 Evening Standard British Film Awards. AlongsideThe Thick of It's writing team, Armstrong wrote one episode of the first season ofHBO comedy seriesVeep, set in the office of the American vice-president.

In the run-up to the2010 UK general election, Armstrong wrote a column inThe Guardian – 'Malcolm Tucker's election briefing – as dictated to Jesse Armstrong'.^[12] He previously wrote a similar column forNew Statesman, entitled 'Tactical Briefing'.^[13] In 2010, Armstrong's currently-unproduced screenplayMurdoch, a drama in whichRupert Murdoch andhis family disagree over who should have control ofhis company, received attention after it appeared onThe Black List, a list of unproduced screenplays most liked by Hollywood industry figures.^[14] In the wake of the 2011phone hacking scandal involving newspapers owned by Murdoch it was rumoured^[15][16] that the script was being developed by Channel 4, but Armstrong dismissed these claims.^[17]

In 2010 it was reported that Armstrong was developing a biopic of theRepublican Party strategistLee Atwater, withChris Henchy andAdam McKay.^[18][19] In October 2011 it was reported that Armstrong's film adaptation ofRichard DiLello's bookThe Longest Cocktail Party, charting the founding ofThe Beatles' record companyApple Records and the recording of their final albumLet It Be,^[20] was to be directed byMichael Winterbottom.^[21] In February 2016 it was reported that Winterbottom had withdrawn from the project and the film's future was uncertain.^{[citation needed]}

Armstrong wrote one episode ofCharlie Brooker'santhology seriesBlack Mirror, entitled "The Entire History of You".Robert Downey Jr. has since bought the rights to adapt the script for a forthcoming film.^[22] Armstrong's first novel,Love, Sex and Other Foreign Policy Goals, was released in April 2015.^[23]

In 2017, Armstrong's American drama seriesSuccession, executive produced byAdam McKay andWill Ferrell, was picked up to series byHBO.^[24] The series starredJeremy Strong,Sarah Snook,Kieran Culkin,Matthew Macfadyen andBrian Cox. The series ran from 2018 to 2023 and receivednumerous accolades including threePrimetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Drama Series. During this time he co-wrote the screenplay for the 2020 comedy-drama filmDownhill withJim Rash andNat Faxon. The film was based on the 2014Ruben Östlund filmForce Majeure and starredWill Ferrell andJulia Louis-Dreyfus.

Armstrong is married and has two children. His wife works for theNational Health Service.^[4] He supportsFulham F.C.^[25]

Other credits

• Armstrong, Jesse (2015).Love, Sex and Other Foreign Policy Goals. Vintage.ISBN 9780399184208.

• List of Academy Award winners and nominees from Great Britain
• List of Primetime Emmy Award winners
• List of Golden Globe winners

• Jesse Armstrong atIMDb
• Jesse Armstrong onTwitter
• Ideas Factory interview with Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong
• The BAFTA Comedy Debate – Jesse Armstrong debates the state of Television Comedy
• Various Artists Limited Joint Creative Director

• 1970 births
• 21st-century English male writers
• Alumni of the University of Manchester
• Living people
• English comedy writers
• English male television writers
• International Emmy Founders Award winners
• People from Oswestry
• Primetime Emmy Award winners
• Writers Guild of America Award winners
• British television show creators
• British satirical television show creators

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use British English from March 2020
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English
• Use dmy dates from September 2023
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• Articles with unsourced statements from January 2020