Although he did not reach the same level of public recognition as some of his contemporaries, Richardson was influential on British television comedy throughout the 1980s as the driving force behind "The Comic Strip Presents..." films, one of the first examples of alternative comedy to appear on British television. Richardson has been involved in the production of over 40 Comic Strip films and has directed 17 of them. The series won a Rose D'Or for "The Strike" in 1988. He developed the series into feature films; "The Supergrass", "Eat the Rich", "The Pope Must Die", and "", none of which achieved great box office success. In the 1990s, Richardson introduced a new generation of performers, Doon Mackichan, Mark Caven, Phil Cornwell, Sara Stockbridge, George Yiasoumi and Gary Beadle, who appeared in his productions. He co-wrote and also directed the 1990s cult mockumentary comedy series Stella Street with Phil Cornwell and John Sessions. In 2004, Richardson co-founded the production company Great Western Features with Nick Smith, which is based in Totnes, Devon. In 2005, he directed the Comic Strip film "Sex Actually". In the 2010s, Richardson wrote and directed two more Comic Strip films, 2011's "The Hunt for Tony Blair" and 2012's "Five Go To Rehab".