Charlie Thomas is an award-winning documentary maker, writer and broadcaster.
His films on music have been broadcast around the world, including on BBC and Sky in the UK and Showtime in America. Promises and Lies – the Story of UB40 and XTC – This Is Pop both won awards in America, where the latter film was acclaimed by actor Harry Shearer as ‘a wonderful piece of work’. As well as making documentaries, Charlie has been a broadcaster for over 30 years, 25 of those at Sky TV.
He began his career as a journalist, having gained his NCTJ proficiency certificate at Harlow College. He spent two years as news editor at a local paper in London before moving into broadcasting in 1989 as a sports reporter and presenter with Capital Radio. Two years later he was invited to join the sports team of the new satellite station BSB and a year after that he moved to Sky TV as presenter and football reporter for the launch of the new Premier League.
In 1994 he joined Sky’s cricket team, where he was to remain for the next six years, covering the domestic game during the summer and England tours during the winter, including series in Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe and two in the West Indies. After the Cricket World Cup of 1999 he joined Sky News’ sports team as a presenter. He continued to specialise in cricket, broadcasting live from grounds around the country, including Lord’s, the Oval, Cardiff, Trent Bridge and Southampton. He also anchored Sky’s coverage of the 2012 London Olympics and for many years hosted the Sunrise sports bulletins.
In 2013 he joined production company Special Treats and directed his first music documentary, I’m Not in Love – the Story of 10cc, which premiered on BBC4 to critical acclaim, the Observer describing it as ‘a superb film’. Six more films followed, including features on the Kinks, Fairport Convention and music festivals. After co-producing a profile of Daniel Craig for Apple TV in 2021, he began work on I’m Into Something Good, the life of pop impresario Harvey Lisberg. The book was published by Omnibus Press in 2023.
