Michael Imison

Michael Imison (pronounced EYE-miss-on) was born on 9 February 1935. He directed the Doctor Who serial The Ark. Because of this, he was involved in casting Jackie Lane in the part of Dodo Chaplet. He also claims to have been responsible for the general visual style of the Monoids. In an interview conducted around 2010, he said he had hoped that the BBC would be able to have marketed the Monoids as they had done the Daleks, suggesting he had a financial interest in their success.

Imison's contract with the BBC was not renewed during the recording of "The Bomb", which effectively meant that he was fired as he recorded the last episode of The Ark, and he wasn't even told face-to-face; he was simply handed a note informing him of the fact. (DOC: Riverside Story)

"The Bomb" was the last episode of television he ever directed. Immediately after its recording, he became a script editor in the Plays Department at the BBC. However, the executive who had refused to extend his directing contract, Gerald Savory, followed him to that department, virtually ensuring that his career advancement prospects would be limited. He left the BBC and became an actors', and then literary, agent for the bulk of his remaining career. (DCOM, INFO: "The Bomb")