Irshad
Ashraf

Writer and Director for Television and Film

Passionate about telling entertaining stories with a social voice, Irshad is a Netflix Screenwriters’ Fellowship finalist and winner of the C21 International Drama Award for best TV series screenplay.

As a director, he has made over fifty films spanning BAFTA and RTS award winning factual series on BBC, ITV, C4, Five and Sky.

Raised in working class areas of Manchester by parents from Pakistan, he has a fluid, layered identity that imbues his work with fresh perspectives.

“Best scripts I’ve read in ages. Fresh and thrilling. ” Emma Jane Unsworth, Animals

“Smart fast paced stories rooted in real experience.” Paul Wilmshurst Director, The Last Kingdom

“Dream Like and full of nuance” Keith Bell Producer Harry Brown


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CV

Television

Writer 

606

A city banker hits a glass ceiling at work and returns to her estranged family in Yorkshire, where her banking skills spark the interest of a crime boss.

 C21 TV series Best Screenplay. 

Studio 21
Ripped and Torn

A disgraced fashion journalist selfishly pursues a career saving story that causes the death of its teenaged subject, leading her to expose the state and corporate conspiracy behind the murder.

Producer 

Lost Boys
BBC 2
Ross Kemp: Extreme World

Drug smuggling in West Bank and Gaza

Sky 1
Dragons' Den

Business series.

BBC 1
Muslim Driving School

Muslim women gain independence, by learning to drive.

BBC1

Director & Producer 

The Believers Are But Brothers

Turned award winning Edinburgh Fringe stage play into a TV drama.

BBC 4
Born Famous

Spice Girls' Mel B sends her privileged daughter Phoenix to live on the tough estate where she was raised.

Channel 4
The New Troubleshooter

Business series with Digby Jones.

BBC 2
Bizarre Crime

Crime reconstruction series

BBC 3
Kill It, Cut It, Use It

Unusual animal products in everyday items.

BBC 3
The South Bank Show

Profiles of director Peter Kosminsky and rock band elbow.

ITV
A Match Made In Heaven

Internet dating series.

ITV
Karachi Uncovered

Single film about Pakistan’s fashion and media sets.

BBC 1
The Muslim Jesus

The story of Jesus and Mary as told in the Quran.

ITV
How to Dump Your Mates

Teenagers break from peer groups to find new friends.

Channel 4
Tompkinson’s Story

Actor Stephen Tompkinson directs his first drama.

BBC 2
Desi DNA Series 2,3,4

Arts and culture magazine.

BBC 2
The Art Show

Profile of director Richard Linklater.

Channel 4
Fightback Britain

Crime reconstruction series.

BBC 1
Reggie Yates: Dying For A Six Pack

Men with body image issues take extreme measures to get ripped. 

Netflix
The Naked Choir

Gareth Malone searches for Britain’s best acapella group.

BBC1
Back In Time for Tea

A family live, eat and work through a hundred years of northern working class history.

BBC 1
Caught on Camera

Crime reconstruction series.

FIVE

Film

Writer 

Opium

A feature film about a soldier who becomes embroiled in the Afghan opium trade.
The Border
Producer Keith Bell

In a future dystopian England which is split into two countries, and crossing the border is a crime, a man who left his family on the other side tries to make sense of mysterious visions summoning him to the frontier.