Michael was born in Gateshead and trained at the Central School of Speech & Drama.

Theatre credits include: The Fifteen Streets (York Theatre Royal/E&B Productions); Wait Until Dark, Dick Whittington & His Cat, The Actor's Nightmare and Having a Ball (all at The Royal Theatre, Northampton); Jack & The Beanstalk (Campus West, Welwyn Garden City); The Hank Williams Story, Our Brutus and Invasion of the Cathode Rays (Pleasance Edinburgh); Hang Down Your Head And Die, 1984 and Zigger Zagger (National Youth Theatre); The Dead (Old Red Lion); Cowboy Mouth and Spirit Of The Frontier (RSC Fringe Festival); The Eva Cassidy Story (national tour); Heaven Can Wait (The Belgrade Coventry and Perth Theatre tours), Holly At Christmas (Buddy Holly & The Cricketers national tour) and West Side Story (Larnaca Festival).

Film, television and audio work includes: 55 Degrees North (BBC TV); The Storyteller (Channel 4/Henson Productions); What Fettle, Check It Out!, Gilbert's Fridge and Stranger Than Fiction (all for Tyne-Tees TV); Stormy Monday (Moving Picture Co); Joking Apart (BBC TV); Room 36 (Ivory Tower Films); The Paradise Club (BBC TV), Heroes Without Song (BBC Radio 4) and Mr George: Tales From Northumbria.

Michael is a founder member of the The Lost Boys, a Durham-based band who have performed in France, Germany and Morocco (the latter for The British Council), as well as venues such as The Café Royale, The Park Lane Hilton and The Royal National Theatre.

Michael can be heard as the voice of Commander Hallan in the Doctor Who audio spin-off series Gallifrey, and (as a vice-president of Starmaker Theatre Company for young people) has directed Our Day Out, A Slice of Saturday Night, Fame and Children of Eden, as well as The Zoo Story for Berzerk Productions.