While he embarked in a researching role at Trans Atlantic Film, in 1978 he took up a role as a trainee director for
Thames Television. In 1982, he directed seven episodes of
Educating Marmalade. After later pursuing a freelance career, he worked on several comedy shows commissioned by
Channel 4, including
Who Dares Wins, and
Spitting Image. He went on to direct the first series of independent production company
Hat Trick's first project,
Chelmsford 123. In 1990 Stroud directed three episodes of
Roland Rivron's pioneering spoof fly-on-the-wall documentary series,
Set Of Six. The following year, he directed comedians
Frank Skinner and
Jenny Eclair in
Packet of Three. Other sitcoms that he had contributed to include
So Haunt Me,
KYTV,
Harry Enfield and Chums,
Game On,
Kiss Me Kate, and
Chambers. In 1996, Stroud teamed with Marcus Mortimer to form their own production company, Big Bear Films. Stroud and Mortimer had worked on
Comic Relief together. Their principle project was
My Hero, a comedy Stroud also directed, for the BBC.
Vikram Jayanti collaborated with Stroud to produce ''
The Hairy Bikers' Cookbook''. ==Personal life and death==