Beginning his career as a newspaper reporter in London’s East End, Neil worked in Fleet Street before moving into television with ITV, first with Thames News and then Thames Sport and LWT.
At the age of 26 he devised and co-produced the six-part network TV series The Fastest Men on Earth, which traced the lives of the Olympic sprint champions. He was then a news editor on the ITV coverage of the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.
After studying at the National Film & Television School, he was a producer on the ITV current affairs series Eyewitness and Channel 4’s 7-Sport.
Aged 30 he started Chrysalis Sport, which produced Channel 4’s Football Italia, the BBC’s Rugby Special, the award-winning Graham Taylor documentary An Impossible Job and ITV’s Formula One coverage, which won three BAFTAs for best sports programming – hiring Martin Brundle and creating his now famous grid walks.
He was also the architect of Britain’s first ever ad-funded sports series – Nigel Mansell’s Indycar ‘93 and ’94 – with ITV, ESPN, Mansell and Texaco as partners.
Through the 1990s the company grew, creating Channel 4’s NBA coverage and becoming the host broadcaster for the World Rally Championships. Neil also signed the deal with the FIA to become the first ever WRC promoter.
The company also began to build a vast non-sport slate, with documentaries and factual series, including the long running Fifth Gear, The Gadget Show and multiple series of the hit Channel 4 music show Top Tens.
In 2003 the company was bought by the newly-created All3Media and re-named North One. Its vast global output continued and included MotoGP, Formula E, Extreme E, the Isle of Man TT, Major League Baseball and the NFL – as well as quirkier ventures such as the World Sheepdog Trials for Channel 4, Reg & Harry’s Classic Fight Night for ITV and the World Freerun Championships for the BBC.
He oversaw the comedy-sports series Jumpers for Goalposts, which was a hit for Sky, as was the award-winning Big Ron Manager, along with Football Icon and Premier League All Stars.
In the factual world the company continued to expand, with series such as Ricky Tomlinson & Ralf Little’s Very Northern Road Trip, Storage Hunters and Dermot O’Leary’s No Balls Allowed, as well as specials such as James Bond’s Greatest Hits, A Very British UFO Hoax and Lee Evans’ Heavyweight Heroes.
Neil also spotted the potential of TT rider Guy Martin and launched his TV career on a canal boat with a BBC series about the industrial revolution. After signing with Channel 4 Martin became one of the network’s stand out stars, with North One producing multiple series and major specials such as Wall of Death Live, the Great Escape and World War One Tank.
Series such as Travel Man, Paul Hollywood Eats… and Sky Coppers followed, along with high-profile specials, including the Paramount+ true crime series The Body and ITV’s Vicky McClure: My Grandad’s War and Captain Tom’s War and The Life & Times of Captain Sir Tom.
Neil was executive producer of the Disney+ series Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story, with Keanu Reeves, which was one of the network’s biggest global hits of 2024 and won an International Emmy for best sports documentary.
Neil retired from North One in February 2025 but remains a consultant for the company. He has been an executive producer of the soon-to-be released Formula 1 series on the birth of the new Cadillac team, which also stars Keanu Reeves.
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