At the age of 21 Briant joined the BBC as an assistant floor manager in the drama department and a year later became a production assistant. In 1966, he took a Directors Course. Sometimes credited as just Michael Briant, he subsequently directed series such as
Z-Cars and
Doctor Who directing
Jon Pertwee and
Tom Baker in a total of six serials:
Colony in Space (1971),
The Sea Devils (1972),
The Green Death (1973),
Death to the Daleks (1974),
Revenge of the Cybermen (1975) and
The Robots of Death (1977). He went on to direct several episodes from the first season of ''
Blake's 7 in 1978, and Secret Army between 1978 and 1979. He later directed four of the six episodes of its sequel, Kessler, and the thriller series Blood Money, in which he cast many of the actors from Secret Army''. Briant's other directing work included a BBC adaptation of
Robert Louis Stevenson's
Treasure Island, the
Emmy-award-winning
BBC adaptation of
Charles Dickens's story
A Tale of Two Cities, the feature film
Tangiers, the series
Hideaway, One By One and
EastEnders. Briant was also responsible for developing ''
Howards' Way'', and directed several episodes during its first series. He also spent time directing television in the
Netherlands. Briant discusses his move from acting to directing and his time spent working on Treasure Island in the 2021 YouTube video
Director - Michael E Briant Briant has been involved with DVD releases of his
Doctor Who episodes, appearing on various documentaries and commentary tracks. He has also become a successful author. His autobiography
Who is Michael Briant? was published by Classic Press and his books
French Canal Routes to the Mediterranean,
The Gentle Sailing Route to the Mediterranean,
Strait Sailing to Gibraltar and
Living Aboard Around the World were published by EdwinEditions. Following his circumnavigation in a Moody 36 sailing boat he has written a number of books about boating including French Canal Routes to the Mediterranean and The Atlantic Crossing Guide all of which are for sale as downloads from http://www.gentlesailing.com/. His YouTube channel which is also entirely about sailing and @SailingGently now has almost 19,000 subscribers and over a million views. Currently his boat 'Golden Haze' is in Martinique and is the base for his video films and books. He lives in northern France and southern Spain In 2021 Michael Briant contributed to the documentary tribute
Alfred Burke is Frank Marker. ==Selected filmography==