Michael Ferguson (director)
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Michael Ferguson (14 June 1937 – 4 October 2021) was a British television director and producer. His early career included directing four serials of the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
's
science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...
series ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'' (1966–1971). He later directed
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...
's police drama series ''
The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...
'' and was promoted to become its producer (1988–1989), and as executive producer of the BBC
soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...
''
EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...
'' (1989–1991) he was responsible for the introduction of two of its most popular and long-running characters,
Phil Phil may refer to: * Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names * Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil" * Phil, Kentucky, United States * Phil (film), ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film * -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as ...
and Grant Mitchell. He then produced the BBC medical drama series ''
Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...
'' (1993–1994).


Early life

Ferguson was educated at
King's College School King's College School, also known as Wimbledon, KCS, King's and KCS Wimbledon, is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, private Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, southwest London, England. The s ...
in Wimbledon. He performed his national service with the
British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...
in Cyprus and north Africa. He trained as an actor at the
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. In ...
.


Career

Ferguson started his career as a stage actor and director with the Theatre Centre, a touring company visiting schools, before joining the BBC as an assistant floor manager and training to be a director there. He began directing for the BBC in the 1960s on television shows such as ''
Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police and CID detectives in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by ...
'' (1962–67), '' The Newcomers'', ''
Compact Compact as used in politics may refer broadly to a pact or treaty; in more specific cases it may refer to: * Interstate compact, a type of agreement used by U.S. states * Blood compact, an ancient ritual of the Philippines * Compact government, a t ...
'' (1964), ''
199 Park Lane ''199 Park Lane'' was a British soap opera that aired on BBC1 in 1965. Broadcast twice a week, the series was set in a luxury block of flats in London. A total of 18 episodes were broadcast, the first two with the titles "The New Tenant" and "D ...
'' (1965), ''
Out of the Unknown ''Out of the Unknown'' is a British television science fiction and horror anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and broadcast on BBC2 in four series between 1965 and 1971. Most episodes of the first three series were dramatisations of s ...
'' (1969 & 1971) and ''
Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'', for which he directed the serials ''
The War Machines ''The War Machines'' is the tenth and final serial of the third season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in 4 weekly parts from 25 June to 16 July 1966. The serial is set in London in th ...
'' (1966), ''
The Seeds of Death ''The Seeds of Death'' is the fifth serial of the sixth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. Written by Brian Hayles and an uncredited Terrance Dicks and directed by Michael Ferguson, it originally aired in ...
'' (1969), ''
The Ambassadors of Death ''The Ambassadors of Death'' is the third serial of the Doctor Who (season 7), seventh season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in seven weekly parts on BBC One, BBC1 from 21 March to 2 May ...
'' (1970) and ''
The Claws of Axos ''The Claws of Axos'' is the third serial of the Doctor Who (season 8), eighth season of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in four weekly parts on BBC One, BBC1 from 13 March to 3 April 1971. ...
'' (1971). He remained at the BBC during the 1970s, directing various programmes including '' Quiller'' (1975) and ''
Colditz Colditz () is a small town in the district of Leipzig (district), Leipzig, in Saxony, Germany. It is best known for Colditz Castle, the site of the Oflag IV-C prisoner-of-war camp, POW camp for officers in World War II. Geography Colditz is situa ...
'' (1972), before moving to rival network
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...
in 1976. At ITV he directed ''
Dickens of London ''Dickens of London'' is a 1976 television miniseries from ITV Yorkshire, Yorkshire Television based on the life of English novelist Charles Dickens. Both Dickens and his father John Dickens, John were played by British actor Roy Dotrice. The s ...
'' (1976), directed and produced the spy drama ''
The Sandbaggers ''The Sandbaggers'' is a British spy thriller television series created by Ian Mackintosh, about men and women on the front lines of the Cold War. Set contemporaneously with its original broadcast on ITV from 1978 to 1980, ''The Sandbaggers'' e ...
'' (1978), '' Flambards'' (1979), ''
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'' (1982) and ''
The Glory Boys ''The Glory Boys'' is a 1984 British three-part television thriller miniseries made for Yorkshire Television and first broadcast on the ITV network between 1 and 3 October 1984, starring Rod Steiger and Anthony Perkins. It is about two terrori ...
'' (1984). In 1985 Ferguson began directing for ITV's police drama ''The Bill'' and rose to producer in 1988. Ferguson worked on ''The Bill'' during “its most popular period” when it switched in 1987 from a series to a “soap-style” twice-weekly half-hour format. Because of Ferguson's success with the programme,
Peter Cregeen Peter Cregeen (born 28 January 1940 in London, England) is a British television director, producer and executive. He was the original director of ITV's successful police drama ''The Bill'', and made a substantial contribution to the series the ...
- the head of series at the BBC - “poached” him in 1989 to become the
executive producer Executive producer (EP) is one of the top positions in the production of media. Depending on the medium, the executive producer may be concerned with management accounting or associated with legal issues (like copyrights or royalties). In film ...
of
BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...
's flagship soap opera, ''
EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...
''. Ferguson took over from series producer
Mike Gibbon John Michael Gibbon (born 27 January 1942) is an English television producer and director. He directed and produced the BBC televised soap opera, ''EastEnders''. He began directing the programme in 1985 and began producing the programme in 1988. ...
in the latter part of 1989. ''EastEnders'' had come under criticism due to falling ratings and "comic storylines" which many viewers felt were stretching its credibility. According to ''EastEnders'' scriptwriter
Colin Brake Colin Brake (born 1962) is an English television writer and script editor best known for his work for the BBC on programmes such as '' Bugs'' and ''EastEnders,'' or '' Greenborne''. He has also written spin-offs from the BBC series ''Doctor Who ...
, Ferguson was responsible for bringing in a "new sense of vitality", and creating a programme that was “more in touch” with the “real world” than it had been over the last year. Ferguson altered the way the episodes were produced, changed the way the storylines were conceptualised and introduced a far greater amount of location work than had previously been seen. As a consequence of these changes, a large number of characters were axed in early 1990 as the new production machine cleared way for a new direction and new characters. Among the characters he introduced were the Tavernier family, pub landlord
Eddie Royle The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' in 1990, by order of first appearance. Harry Osborne In January 1990, a mysterious old man ( John Boswall) is seen lingering around Albert Square. ...
and most notably the Mitchell brothers and their sister Sam — the Mitchells went on to become major long-term characters, among the most popular featured in the programme.Profiles: EastEnders Kemp and McFadden
, ''BBC''. URL last accessed on 18 September 2006.
At ''EastEnders'' Ferguson was responsible for storylines such as the return of runaway
Diane Butcher Diane Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Sophie Lawrence. Diane appeared as a regular character between 1988 and 1991, when Lawrence decided to leave. The character made several brief returns in 199 ...
,
Mark Fowler Mark Fowler is a fictional character in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. Mark, an original regular character when the series started in February 1985, became a semi-regular after his original actor David Scarboro was written out of the role ...
's HIV,
Mo Butcher Mo Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Edna Doré between 1988 and 1990. She is introduced as the matriarch figure of the Butcher family, Frank Butcher's ( Mike Reid) elderly mother. She is portrayed ...
's Alzheimer's,
Nick Cotton Nick Cotton is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' played by John Altman (actor), John Altman on a semi-regular basis from the soap's debut episode on 19 February 1985. Altman has stated that his initial exit was due t ...
's attempt to poison his mother
Dot Cotton Dorothy "Dot" Cotton (also Branning) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', portrayed by June Brown. In a special episode entitled ''EastEnders: Dot's Story'' (2003) a young Dot was played by Tallulah Pitt-Brown in f ...
, and the murder of Eddie Royle. Ferguson decided to leave ''EastEnders'' in July 1991. He remained with the BBC, producing the hospital drama series ''
Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...
'' (1993–94), before returning to ITV in 1996 to once again direct for ''The Bill''. His last directorial credit for the programme was in 2002.


Personal life

Ferguson had two daughters, Tracy and Nikki, by his first wife Susan; Nikki predeceased him. Ferguson died in October 2021, aged 84.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferguson, Michael 1937 births 2021 deaths 20th-century British Army personnel Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art BBC television producers British male stage actors British television directors British theatre directors People educated at King's College School, London People from New Malden British soap opera producers