Michael E. Briant trusts actors to make unlikely situations convincing. His work on Doctor Who suits that straightforward approach, and we recommend it with the patience that the programme’s sometimes stubborn pacing requires.
Fi1m perspective
Briant treats the camera as another person in the scene. He recalled director Peter Hammond’s advice that “the camera should be the third person in the room”, and his preference for truthful, unexaggerated performances fits it. We like that practical way of thinking about television: decide where we should be looking, then let the actors make us believe what is happening. In Doctor Who (1963), that belief matters as much as anything built around them.
We were frightened by Doctor Who because its actors treated absurd situations as dangers worth taking seriously. Briant directed six serials between 1971 and 1977, working with Jon Pertwee and Tom Baker, and his restraint is well suited to that task. It does not cure the programme’s stubborn pacing; there are times when we want the conversation to end and the adventure to get on with it.
His first Doctor Who serial, Colony in Space (1971), exposes the limits of that approach. Briant later acknowledged its design and effects shortcomings; restraint in the acting cannot make those problems disappear. The location filming and effects work of The Sea Devils (1972) offer a more persuasive example of what he could manage. He could handle a story across several episodes, even if Doctor Who did not always need all the time it took.
His work with actors on Treasure Island (1977) makes sense alongside the science fiction, even if the setting changes. He also directed Blake’s 7 (1978) and worked with producer Gerard Glaister on Secret Army (1978–1979). For A Tale of Two Cities (1980), he both adapted and directed, taking responsibility for the script as well as its performance. That broader work is worth remembering before treating him simply as a science-fiction specialist. We would start with his Doctor Who, but allow the characters to finish talking.
Biography
Michael E. Briant (born Michael Edwin Briant, 14 February 1942) is a retired British television director and author. He is best known for directing six serials of the BBC series Doctor Who between 1971 and 1977.
Briant joined the BBC at the age of 21 as an assistant floor manager in the drama department and later became a production assistant. He completed a directors' course in 1966 and went on to direct episodes of series including Z-Cars. His Doctor Who credits comprise 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 subsequently directed episodes of Blake's 7 (1978) and Secret Army (1978–1979), as well as its sequel Kessler. Other credits include the Emmy-winning adaptation A Tale of Two Cities (1980), for which he also wrote the screenplay, Blood Money and work in the Netherlands. He has contributed to DVD releases and documentaries for his Doctor Who episodes.
