---
name: "Michael Leeston-Smith"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/michael-leeston-smith"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "12 December 1916"
died: "5 December 2001"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
updated: "2026-09-16T16:07:42.904163+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Michael Leeston-Smith

Director. Born 12 December 1916 in Torquay, Devon. Died 5 December 2001.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 12 December 1916, Torquay, Devon
- **Died:** 5 December 2001
- **Active:** 1962–1963
- **Works often with:** Anthony Read, Barry Letts, Bob Baker, Brian Hayles, Christopher Barry, Dave Martin

## Biography

Michael Leeston-Smith (born John Michael Bazalgette Leeston-Smith) was a British television and film director. He began his career at Ealing Studios in 1932, aged 16, working as a photographer and assistant sound engineer. He joined the BBC in 1938 and, after service in the Royal Horse Artillery during the Second World War, returned to the corporation, later serving as sound engineer on the 1953 serial *The Quatermass Experiment* and production assistant on its 1955 sequel *Quatermass II*.

In the 1960s Leeston-Smith became a staff director. His credits include multiple episodes of *Z-Cars* and *R3*, as well as the six-part adaptation *The Small House at Allington* (1960), which he also produced. He directed the four-part *Doctor Who* serial *The Myth Makers* in 1965. After a period freelancing, he moved to South Africa in 1973 to work for the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, shannonsullivan.com, tardis.wiki.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Doctor Who* (1963), Fi1m 81, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/doctor-who.md)

## Also credited on (not yet reviewed)

- *Z-Cars* (1962), Director

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/michael-leeston-smith