Directing

 

Most of the following productions have links to pages with more details about them - if you are interested....

Treasure Isle 2 Cities Secret Army Blood Money Blake's 7 Dr Who dvd & video Onedin line Warship Netherlands television Kessler One by One Hideaway Howards Way

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0108465/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

This should go to my IMDb page

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_E._Briant

These days most of my 'creative' time is spent making videos for my YouTube channel  here Sailing Gently

but my past professional activities on   Dr Who, and Blakes 7

have come alive again!

                     

                     The BBC have published a Blu-Ray boxes of all of Season 8 & 9 of Dr Who which features my first 'Who' production - Colony in Space and  The Sea Devils                    

Doctor Who The Collection: Season 9 is a Blu-ray set released on March 20th, 2023 The Collection range. This release features  Michael E Briant at the Helm - a profile on the director

 of The Sea Devils among other Pertwee stories and Location, Location, Location:  Some years ago I made voice over commentaries of all the episodes in both productions with some

of the actor, the producer and story editor of those productions.

 

 

DR WHO

my experience working on show from Hartnel days onwards as a AFM, PA & Director   here

 

I worked with all the 'classic series Doctors' up to and including Tom Baker.

 Had the pleasure of directing Cybermen, Sea Devils, Daleks and one of my teo favourites - the Robots from the space miner... the other being:

 

Sea Devils -

 with interviews and commentary

 Colony in Space 

 Robots of Death 

 Death to the Daleks 

 Revenge of the Cyberman 

The Green Death 

 

 

 

BLAKE'S 7

 

THE WAY BACK

 THE WEB,  

PROJECT AVALON,

DELIVERANCE

 

I directed the first ever episode and then several more from the first series. 

Great fun to do - And still amazingly popular

 

Bravely going where others had been before!

 

More here

 

 

 

SECRET ARMY

 

 

Has been re-released on DVD

 

 

Beautifully presented box of 4 DVDs of the 3rd Series.

  in UK High Street shops such as HMV, Smiths

 http://www.play.com

 

Prisoner of War  

The last Run

Ring of Roses  

Ambush 

Light the Blue Touch Paper

Collaborator 

    

 

I considered that directing Secret Army turned me into a proper mature director - I was very proud to work on the show.

 

KESSLER

 

 re-released on DVD

 

and is now available from high street stores and Amazon 

 

 

Clifford Rose & Alison Glennie

 

 

 

Alan Dobie

 

       

Nitza Saul &  Nick Young

 

 

Wonderful  TV All Film Drama Series of 6 x 50' episodes

Staring

Claire Higgins- Ken Hutchinson - Gabrielle Anwar

 

Being a crook isn't a very pleasant way of life. It is particularly disagreeable to be married to someone in the underworld and worse still to be a mobster's daughter.

 

 

'There is little peace for a man who lives amongst hoodlums and there may be no hiding place'.

 

 

There is certainly no honour 

 

 

BLOOD ROYAL

 

 

BECAME

 

BLOOD MONEY

 

Really well written by Arden Winch this 6 x 50' serial was very well received and a pleasure to direct!

 

ONEDIN LINE

 

I directed several episodes over a couple of seasons of this popular series.

 

eter was a delightful actor to work with and most of the success of the series was down to his portrayal of James Onedin.

 

Worked again with him on One by One

 

One by One

Zoo Vet series about work with exotic animals - lots of fun - very interesting working with Jimmy Clubb

&

 Sally Chipperfield's Circus.

 

 

 

 

I direct a mean elephant!

 

 

TREASURE

ISLAND

 

 

We shot the West Indian island sequences on the southern tip of Corsica - that was as far as the budget allowed us to go! The Jungle was shot on the Mildmay estate near  Plymouth which has been home location to several previous versions of this 'Sea Story'.

 

 

A Tale of Two Cities

 

 

BBC Sunday Classic 6 part Serial .

 I wrote the adaptation as well as Directing

Won an Emmy.

 

Tangier

Feature film aimed at the new VHS market  produced by Linked Ring Productions - My own production company - shot in Gibraltar - Morocco & UK

 

Billie Whitelaw & Ronnie Cox

Available from Amazon and eBay

   

 

 

Warship

 

 

A very good BBC 1 drama series about life in a Leander Class Frigate

 

HMS HERO.

 

Created and mainly written by Ian Mackintosh a serving RN officer. He was awarded a posthumous MBE  for his work in Intelligence - a real life James Bond!

 

Locations in Hong Kong, Plymouth & Portsmouth. 

 

 

Southerland’s Law  

BBC Scotland - recorded in Glasgow - Oban and other beautiful places!

 

Breakaway 

                       Francis Durbridge       6 part mystery serial with a huge following in Germany where it was called Die Handschuhen

 

 

Howard's Way

DVD Cover

From my original idea

 

Very successful 'boating and between the sheets' drama series set on the Hamble River.

 

As well as directing I created the sailing sequences that backed the end credits.

 

 A really fun days shooting with a helicopter, speed boats and some splendid craft to photograph!

 

 

The cast

Maurice Colbourne  as all round good-guy Tom Howard,

 Jan Harvey as the glamorous Jan Howard

            and

 Stephen Yardley as the manipulative Ken Masters.

 

DVD Cover         

 

      

DUTCH TELEVISION DRAMA

(My brief sojourn in Netherlands Television)

 

 

SPIJKERHOEK

 

Had the pleasure of directing  the first & second series.

 

My real function was to bring UK TV drama production techniques to Netherlands TV.

 

 

 

 

 

 

vriendenFriends for life/Vrienden voor het Leven

 

Found the Scripts, did the casting, created the recording techniques and imported the UK system of Sit Com to the Netherlands - with the help of some UK technicians who flew in for a week!!. 

 

 

 

 

 

After Henry/Zonder Ernst

 

Found the script, Produced and Directed the Pilot then got fired by Joop v/d Ende! For not obeying orders!

Possibly not the brightest light on the Netherlands Christmas tree but rich and powerful...

 

 Firsts are always interesting!

 

 

 

 

 

Jansen Jansen

 

 

working for the Vara I directed this clever sit com based on Swedish Series.  3 series of it!

 

Won lots of awards for Netherlands TV drama and got to live in Amsterdam!

 

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0108465/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

This should go to my IMDb page

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_E._Briant

To be a young television director in the 60's 70's & 80's was wonderful.  

 

I was 24 when I did the (then 6 week) directors course at the BBC then a few weeks later directed my first broadcast television drama production. 

 

 Television was growing at a rate and the creative side was run by people from the theatre or film industry.  Directors in those days did the casting, were consulted during the writing process and had a freedom impossible today. 

 

Because I was on the staff of the BBC, as a Production Assistant - production manager/first assistant in film terms - I was allowed to direct shows whilst still on the staff. (All drama directors are freelance in UK TV) Until 1970/1 I would direct a show then have to go back to being a PA - Always a bit difficult but with a wife, children and a mortgage, it had it's attractions but I hated the system and wanted to go freelance. 

 

In 1970 Ronnie Marsh, then head of drama serials, gave me a years contract worth of freelance directing engagements. I left the staff and became freelance television director. What a nice man and what a kind thing to do!

 

Television has now grown up and on soaps the role of the director is primarily to point cameras. The speed and instant acting required to-day has taken much of the fun out the work and many - particularly BBC soaps - are run by committee.  

 

Not sure if this is good or bad, but for young directors it is very sad.

 

I would have paid to do the directing work that came my way - certainly it was a bit intimidating sometimes, very scary even, but it never was boring and I was allowed to experiment and sometimes to fail - the most exciting thing I can imagine.

 

 I was so lucky.

 

The following is what I have been doing in the Film and Television part of my life...

 

The E in Michael E Briant came about because of the same problem I had as a child actor and changed my name to Tennant - The actor  Michael Bryant was/is much more famous than me - He started to get phone calls about his directing abilities! and I started to get letters and calls from his fans! Michael Byiant's correspondence was much more interesting than mine but none the less I decided to insert my E initial into my credits!

 

1966    Z Cars                                   Film and Studio

1967    The Newcomers                      4 episodes

1968/9 The Doctors                           12 episodes

1970    Dr Who                                 Colony in Space 

Freelance Director

1970/1 Z Cars                                   Old Bones, Bits and Bats, The fighter etc etc

 1971    Dr Who                                Sea Devils + Christmas Spectacular – 6 episodes

1973    Dr Who                                Death to the Daleks

1974    Z Cars                                  First series shot all OB 

1974   Southerland’s Law                  A Murmur of Malice            

1975    Dr Who                               Revenge of the Cybermen      

1975    Southerland’s Law                A Slight case of Matrimony     

1975    Dixon of Dock Green            Black Monday – Hired Man     

1976    Onedin Line                        4 x 50’ episodes

1977    Dr Who                             Robots of Death  

1975    Angels                              Hospital Series about nurses

1975   Breakaway                         Francis Durbridge       6 part mystery serial

1976   Dixon of Dock Green           Alice - Jackpot            50’ Episodes

1977   Warship                            And Wings of Gold - Knight Errant    

1977   Treasure Island                  6 part serial of Stevenson’s Classic novel

1977    Blake’s 7                          First episode + 3  others

1978    Warship                           Windsong - Girl from the Sea - A Matter of History  

1977/8 Secret Army                     Prisoner of War – the last Run – Ring of Roses - Ambush – Light the blue touch Paper – Collaborator -

1979    Blood Money                   6 part serial about kidnapping of royal child by terrorists-  written  by Arden Winch.

1980     Tale of Two Cities           6 part serial of Dickens Classic Novel – I also wrote the adaptation - It won an Emmy

1981    Kessler                            Sequel to Secret Army about today's Nazi party leaders  

1981/2   Link Ring Films             Started my own production  company 

1982/3 Tangier                            Feature film – Produced and Directed

1983    Emmerdale                      Yorkshire

1983/4 One by One                     Zoo Vets drama series

1985    Emmerdale                      Yorkshire TV

1985/6 Hideaway                         6 x 50 Film series all on location in London and Derbyshire

1987/8 Howard’s Way                  Sailing Series - based on my original concept

1989    Eastenders                        BBC

1990   Spikerhook/Nail Corner      Netherlands Drama series 

1991/2  Emmerdale                      Yorkshire

1993/4 Friends for Life                 Netherlands sit com Vrienden voor het Leven  UK title 'The Two of Us'

 (First Netherlands sitcom series made with UK production techniques)

 1995    After Henry/Zonder Ernst  Netherlands sit com - produced & directed

1996    EastEnders                         BBC

1997/8 Jansen-Jansen                     Netherlands Sit Com

1999/0 Blue Water Cruising             Produced and Directed in Caribbean

2000    Blue Water Destinations       Trinidad to Panama

2001    Blue Water Destinations        Panama to Galapagos 

2002    Blue Water Destinations        Marquises to Tahiti

2002    Blue Water Destinations        Society Islands to Fiji and Tonga

2003    Blue Water Destinations        Australia to Timor

2003/4 Blue Water Destinations         Indonesia to Sri Lanka

 

And I am still making little films for my YouTube channel    SAILING VIDEOS here  YouTube@SailingGently

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0108465/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1

This should go to my IMDb page

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_E._Briant

 

French Canal Routes to the Mediterranean

Gentle Sailing Route to the Mediterranean

Gentle Mediterranean Routes to the Islands

The Pacific Crossing Guide

Caribbean Islands Cruising Guides

Strait Sailing to Gibraltar

Living Aboard Around the World

Easy Navigation

For my sailing books and French canal guides please go to

  gentlesailing.com

 

 

 

 

 

                         

Up Sailing La Rochelle Directing Actor Links Contact Sailing info la Rochelle Who is Michael Briant In Praise of Spain Gibraltar AIS help our cousin s IN PRAISE OF SPAIN BOULOGNE SUR MER Atlantic Crossing Guide

I am pleased to say this web site is

who have been kind, helpful and understanding. I really recommend them

Click here to purchase web hosting with HOST 100