{{Short description|British TV director and literary agent (born 1935)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{BLP sources|date=July 2009}} {{Infobox person | image = | name = Michael Imison | imagesize = | caption = | birth_name = Michael Halton Imison | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1935|02|09|df=yes}} | birth_place = Hoylake, Cheshire | death_date = | death_place = | spouse = {{marriage|Tamsyn Imison (née Trenaman)|1958|2017|reason=died}} | alma_mater = Exeter College, Oxford | occupation = Television director, literary agent | children = 3 | relatives = Richard Imison (brother) }} '''Michael Imison''' (born in Hoylake, Cheshire, 9 February 1935) is a retired British television director and literary agent. He directed several productions for the BBC in the 1960s, including ''Doctor Who'', and subsequently served as the story editor on the second series of the science-fiction anthology programme ''Out of the Unknown''.
==Early life and education== Imison attended Exeter College at the University of Oxford.<ref>{{cite web | url= https://www.tes.com/news/dames-delight-oxford-pardondiary | title= Dame's delight at Oxford pardon | work=Tes | date=7 May 1999 | accessdate=28 January 2021}}</ref> During the 1950s, he served as a cadet in the national service.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=40811 |date=19 June 1956 |page=3650}}</ref>
==BBC career== Imison began his career at the BBC working for the Script Department. Initial successes included directing ''Magnyfcence'' by John Skelton at the Tower Theatre, Canonbury in May 1963.<ref name="LTT"/> Under contract as a director at the BBC, Imison directed ''Compact'' and a serial adaptation of Thomas Mann's ''Buddenbrooks''.
His final directorial assignment for the BBC was the ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Ark'' (1966), which starred William Hartnell as the First Doctor. Although his contract as a staff director was not renewed following the completion of the serial,<ref>Voice-over commentary on the BBC DVD "The Ark" (1966, 2011)</ref> Imison remained at the BBC and acted as story editor on the second series of ''Out of the Unknown'' under producer Irene Shubik.
==Literary agent==
Later in his career, Imison became a literary agent. His company represented Noël Coward and Terence Rattigan, among many other playwrights. He also helped previously unknown dramatists such as David Edgar (''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'') and Bernard Pomerance (''The Elephant Man'') to international success. It has now been incorporated into Alan Brodie Representation Ltd.
From 1976<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j27jAAAAMAAJ&q=Mary+O+Malley+Michael+Imison|title= New Playwrights Directory|page=42|last=Itzin|first=Catherine|author-link=Catherine Itzin|publisher=TQ Publications|isbn=978-0-904844-05-4|language=en}}</ref> until 1982, Imision represented playwright Mary O'Malley. In July 1978, the pair were involved in a car crash, hitting a lamppost. O'Malley, in the passenger seat, received a devastating injury to her right arm, resulting in an ununited fracture that took four years to unite, affecting her writing career for two years.<ref>{{cite news |title=Playwright sues over car crash |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/260267442/ |date=23 October 1985 |accessdate=28 January 2026 |work=The Guardian |page=4}}</ref> Seven years after the accident, she sued her former agent for damages and was awarded £55,000 in costs. Imison admitted liability but contested the amount of damages.<ref>{{cite news |title=Writer Wins £55,000 Over Arm Injury |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/751072544/ |date=5 November 1985 |accessdate=28 January 2026 |work=The Daily Telegraph |page=3}}</ref>
==Other work== Imison founded and chaired the Noël Coward Society, worked for the British Humanist Association,<ref name="HTTP"/> and also founded and chaired the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society when he was the undergraduate director of the Oxford University Theatre Group, known for its late-night revues which launched the careers of Alan Bennett and Dudley Moore among others.<ref>{{cite news |title=Briefly |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/719018593/ |date=23 August 1992 |accessdate=28 January 2026 |work=The Independent |page=21}}</ref>
==Personal life==
Imison was married to the educator Dame Tamsyn Imison and lives in Suffolk.<ref name="I90"/>
==References== <references>
{{citation needed|date=December 2018}} <ref name="HTTP">{{cite web |url=http://www.humanism.org.uk/site/cms/contentviewarticle.asp?article=1160 |title=British Humanist Association |accessdate=29 November 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20030921084420/http://www.humanism.org.uk/site/cms/contentviewarticle.asp?article=1160 |archivedate=21 September 2003}}</ref> <ref name="I90">{{Cite web |url=http://www.bbccharterreview.org.uk/first_phase_responses/I/imison_michael.rtf |title=Archived copy |access-date=26 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060624184234/http://www.bbccharterreview.org.uk/first_phase_responses/I/imison_michael.rtf |archive-date=24 June 2006 |url-status=dead}}</ref> <ref name="LTT">[http://www.towertheatre.org.uk/plays/list1963.htm List of Tower Theatre plays] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080422013204/http://www.towertheatre.org.uk/plays/list1963.htm |date=22 April 2008}}</ref>
</references>
==External links== * https://web.archive.org/web/20060624184234/http://www.bbccharterreview.org.uk/first_phase_responses/I/imison_michael.rtf * http://www.clubdesmonstres.com/monoids.jpg{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes}} * https://web.archive.org/web/20030921084420/http://www.humanism.org.uk/site/cms/contentviewarticle.asp?article=1160 *{{IMDb name | id=0408202 | name=Michael Imison}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Imison, Michael}} Category:1935 births Category:Living people Category:Alumni of Exeter College, Oxford Category:British television directors Category:People from Southwold