Michael appeared in comedies such as The Liver Birds (1975–78) and Luv (1993–94) and films such as A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (1979) and No Surrender (1985). In 1983, he appeared at the Manchester Royal Exchange in Harold Pinter's 'The Caretaker'. He was a villain in the revived television series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (2002), alongside former fellow Black Stuff star Alan Igbon. He narrated the UK version of Thomas & Friends TV series from 1991 to 2012, when he took over from Ringo Starr until Mark Moraghan took over him in 2013.

Michael trained at the College of Dramatic Art, Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, Glasgow, where, inter alia, he played roles in Brendan Behan's The Hostage and The Zykovs by Maxim Gorky. He was featured in Boys from the Black Stuff (1982) and G.B.H..

Michael married Welsh model Jennifer Thomas Khalastchi in 2001.

He narrated John Peel's autobiography, Margrave of the Marshes, which was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 2005. In 2006, he starred in Fated, a film set in Liverpool, as well as in episodes of Midsomer Murders and The Bill in 2007. In September 2011, he participated in the BBC Radio 4 programme The Reunion talking with others cast members about his roles in the Boys from the Blackstuff.