Michael E Briant
Born: 14th February 1942 (as Michael Edwin Briant)
Episodes Broadcast: 1971-1975, 1977
Michael E Briant was born in Bournemouth, Hampshire and grew up in
Maidenhead, Berkshire. As a youth, he attended the Italia Conti Academy
of Theatre Arts. While still in his teens, Briant began acting
professionally in repertory theatre and on television in programmes such
as The Little Round House and Mr Papingay's Ship. He was
sometimes credited as “Michael Tennant” in order to avoid
confusion with the actor Michael Bryant. As he approached the end of
his teenaged years, Briant found acting roles scarce, so he took a job
as an assistant stage manager and quickly rose through the ranks to
become company manager. In 1963, he joined the BBC as an assistant floor
manager. It was in this capacity that he gained his first experience
with Doctor Who, on 1965's The
Daleks' Master Plan.
The following year, Briant was promoted to production assistant, and
returned to Doctor Who for The
Power Of The Daleks, Patrick Troughton's debut serial as the
Second Doctor. By the time he worked on Fury From The Deep in early 1968,
Briant had already completed the BBC's directors' training course.
Here it was Briant who suggested replacing the regular screwdriver
carried by the Doctor in the script with a sonic screwdriver --
inspiring a recurring element of the Doctor Who mythos. Early
directorial assignments included episodes of The Newcomers,
The Doctors and Z Cars. He then directed his first
Doctor Who serial, 1971's Colony
In Space, featuring Jon Pertwee as the Third Doctor. Briant's
wife, Monique, made a cameo appearance in the concluding installment.
He made three further stories during Pertwee's tenure, including 1973's
The Green Death, the farewell
adventure for companion Jo Grant. Briant also directed for Tom Baker's
Fourth Doctor on two occasions, latterly The Robots Of Death, broadcast in
1977.
Briant worked in Dutch television in the late Eighties and
early Nineties
Other Seventies television included Dixon Of Dock Green,
Warship, Blake's 7 and Secret Army. In 1980, Briant
both directed and helped write an Emmy-winning adaptation of A Tale
Of Two Cities. He formed a video production company called Linked
Ring, but even Briant was underwhelmed by the resulting action-adventure
movie, 1982's Tangiers. In 1985, he helped develop the yachting
drama Howards' Way, drawing upon his own love of watercraft.
Amongst Briant's other Eighties work was Breakaway, One By
One and Hideaway. Briant worked in Dutch television in the
late Eighties and early Nineties, but he returned to the UK to direct
episodes of Emmerdale and EastEnders.
Wearying of television, Briant retired and spent time living in both
France and Spain. He indulged his passion for sailing by publishing
several books and even circumnavigating the world. An autobiography,
Who Is Michael E Briant?, was published by Classic TV Press in
2012.
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