Alex Sanjiv Pillai was born in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and is of Tamil Heritage. He was educated at the National Film and Television School and is a recipient of the FIPA D'Argent and the Screen Nation Award.
Alex has just completed a trio of episodes of DR WHO (2024 and 2025) for the BBC and Disney+
Alex has directed extensively in the United States, with episodes of CHILLING ADVENTURES OF SABRINA (2018-19) for Netflix; EMERGENCE (2019) for ABC; WALKER (2021), KATY KEENE (2020), RIVERDALE (2018-22) and VALOR (2017) for The CW; PRETTY LITTLE LIARS: ORIGINAL SIN (2022) and SUMMER SCHOOL (2024) for HBO Max; and INSTINCT (2019) and BULL (2017-9) for CBS.
His work in the UK as a director of cinema and television drama includes BRIDGERTON (2021) for Shondaland/Netflix, the feature film HOW TO DATE BILLY WALSH (2024) for Amazon Prime, the cinema feature VICTIM (2012), starring Letitia Wright, the BAFTA-nominated first series of BEING HUMAN (2009), and the multi-award-winning BBC feature FLIGHT (1995).
Television includes Naomi Watts' UK debut in THE WYVERN MYSTERY (2000), THE LAST TRAIN (1999), ROBIN HOOD (2008) and MERLIN (2011), all for the BBC, and DA VINCI'S DEMONS (2015) for Starz.
Single dramas include HARRY PRICE: GHOST HUNTER (2015) starring Rafe Spall, and THE BEST MAN (2005) starring Keeley Hawes and Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Crime series include Paul Abbott's TOUCHING EVIL (1999), Val McDermid's WIRE IN THE BLOOD (2004) and Lynda La Plante's TRIAL AND RETRIBUTION (2007 and 8).
