After directing episodes of Coronation Street, Strangers, World in Action, Crown Court and The Spoils of War by his late twenties,[4] he gained international recognition for his work on the eleven-part television adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited which won over 17 awards including two Golden Globes and six British Academy awards.
[citation needed] He scripted a film version of J. G. Farrell's Troubles made for London Weekend Television in 1988 and directed by Christopher Morahan.
In 2000, he formed Firstsight Films whose first production was an account of Sir Ernest Shackleton's Endurance expedition, which Sturridge wrote and directed.
It won the BAFTA for Best Series and Best Costume, and the Radio Times Audience award for Best Drama 2002, as well as being nominated for seven Primetime Emmys, winning for music and photography.
In 2011, Sturridge directed a seven-minute short film, "Astonish Me", written by Stephen Poliakoff to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the World Wildlife Fund.
The DUK currently has over 4,000 members and represents the creative and economic rights of UK film and television directors, with Paul Greengrass as president and Sturridge as the elected chair.