Wood's work is also well known in the United States, where it receives much airplay on PBS and on various cable television networks. He quickly became popular with female viewers for his blond good looks (he was humorously dubbed ' the thinking woman's crumpet' by British newspapers), his deep voice and his habit of wearing tight jeans and a sheepskin jacket. He was first a reporter and then an assistant producer on current affairs programmes before returning to his love of history with his 1979–81 series In Search of the Dark Ages for BBC2. In the 1970s Wood worked for the BBC in Manchester.

Three years into his research for a DPhil, he left to become a journalist with ITV. Later, he undertook post-graduate research in Anglo-Saxon history at Oriel. Wood studied history and English at Oriel College, Oxford, touring the United States for six weeks in his final year, and graduated with a second class Bachelor of Arts degree. He took A-levels in English, French and History. At Manchester Grammar School, he developed an interest in theatre, playing Grusha in the first British amateur production of Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle and later Hamlet in Hamlet. When he was eight, his family moved to Paulden Avenue, Wythenshawe where he could see historic Baguley Hall from his bedroom window. He attended Heald Place Primary School in Rusholme. He was appointed Professor of Public History at the University of Manchester in 2013. Wood has also written a number of books on English history, including In Search of the Dark Ages, The Domesday Quest, The Story of England, and In Search of Shakespeare. He has presented numerous well-known television documentary series from the late 1970s to the present day. Michael David Wood, OBE FSA (born 23 July 1948) is an English historian and broadcaster.

In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great (1998) Historian, broadcaster, documentary filmmaker Oriel College, University of Oxford (B A.)

Michael woods in search of shakespeare