Born: 14th June 1937
Died: 4th October 2021 (aged 84 years)
Episodes Broadcast: 1966, 1969-1971

Michael Ferguson was born in New Malden, Surrey. His early interest was in acting, seizing opportunities at school, in amateur dramatics, and during his national service with the army. Ferguson began studying performance at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in 1957, but he now had his eye on becoming a director. After a few years spent acting and directing for the stage, Ferguson joined the BBC as an assistant floor manager in 1963. It was in this capacity that he first worked on Doctor Who, uncredited on The Daleks. In fact, it was Ferguson who manipulated the Dalek arm seen at the climax of the serial's opening installment: the first glimpse of what would soon become a nationwide phenomenon.

In 1964, Ferguson married Susan Harris; they would have daughters Tracy and Nikki. The same year, he completed the BBC's directors' training course, and was soon handling episodes of soap operas like Compact, 199 Park Lane and The Newcomers. In 1966, Ferguson returned to Doctor Who to direct The War Machines, one of William Hartnell's final serials as the First Doctor. In the late Sixties, his credits included Softly Softly, The Doctors and many episodes of Z Cars. Ferguson was back on Doctor Who during the twilight days of another Doctor -- this time the second incarnation, as played by Patrick Troughton -- for the Ice Warrior story The Seeds Of Death. He then returned to the show each of the next two years, directing serials for Jon Pertwee's Third Doctor, the last of which was The Claws Of Axos. The Seventies were busy for Ferguson, who left the BBC in the middle of the decade. Amongst the many programmes on which he worked were Out Of The Unknown, Colditz, Perils Of Pendragon and Dickens Of London.

Starting in 1978, Ferguson would often both produce and direct, first on The Sandbaggers, and later on Airline and The Bill. His first marriage having ended in divorce, he married actress Jana Shelden in 1986; she had appeared in The Sandbaggers. Ferguson's work on The Bill was so successful that he was lured back to the BBC to become the executive producer of the ailing EastEnders in 1990, on which he spent a year and a half. He then produced Casualty before going back to directing, and earned his last credits in 2003 on episodes of Night & Day. Following his retirement, Ferguson taught acting. He made a cameo appearance in 2013's An Adventure In Space And Time, a docudrama about Doctor Who during the Hartnell era. Ferguson died on October 4th, 2021.