His first feature-length project was "The Man in the Iron Mask" (1977), a made-for-television film. His first critically acclaimed movie was "Bad Blood" (1981), concerning the 1941 manhunt for the New Zealand mass-killer Stan Graham played by Jack Thompson. This was followed by "Dance with a Stranger" (1985), a biographical drama starring Miranda Richardson as Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in the UK. For his directorial efforts, Newell won the Award of the Youth at the 1985 Cannes Film Festival.