Chris Morris (satirist)

Christopher J. Morris (born 15 June 1962) 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".

In the early 1990s, Morris and Armando Iannucci created On the Hour, a satire of news programmes broadcast on BBC Radio 4. A television spinoff, The Day Today, launched the career of Steve Coogan and was hailed as one of the most important satirical shows of the 1990s. Morris developed the satirical news format with Brass Eye, which lampooned celebrities whilst focusing on themes such as crime and drugs. The Brass Eye episode "Paedogeddon", which satirised the moral panic surrounding paedophilia, became one of the most complained-about television programmes in British history.

Morris's similarly controversial postmodern sketch comedy and ambient music radio show Blue Jam gained a cult following. It was adapted into the TV series Jam, hailed as "the most radical and original television programme broadcast in years", and Morris won the BAFTA Award for Best Short Film after expanding a Blue Jam sketch into My Wrongs #8245–8249 & 117 starring Paddy Considine. Nathan Barley, a sitcom written with Charlie Brooker that satirised hipsters, had low ratings but success with its DVD release. Morris joined the cast of sitcom The IT Crowd, his first project in which he did not have writing or producing input.

In 2010, Morris directed his first feature-length film, Four Lions, which satirises Islamic terrorism. Reception was largely positive, earning Morris the BAFTA for Outstanding Debut. He directed four episodes of Iannucci's political comedy Veep and appeared in The Double and Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle also serving as script-editor for the latter. His second feature-length film, The Day Shall Come, was released in 2019.