Anthony Coburn

Anthony Coburn
Birth date:	10 December 1927
Death date:	28 April 1977
Work in the DWU
Main jobs:	Writer
Stories:	An Unearthly Child & The Masters of Luxor
Main time period active:	1963
Career highlights
Notable non-DWU work:	Dr Finlay's Casebook, Maigret, The Newcomers, The Borderers, Warship, Poldark
IMDb profile

James Anthony Coburn (10 December 1927-28 April 1977) wrote the script for An Unearthly Child (the first four-episode Doctor Who serial which replaced The Giants by C. E. Webber) and the unproduced The Masters of Luxor (which would have been the second serial of Doctor Who instead of The Daleks, and was subsequently adapted by Nigel Robinson and released as an audio story).

In 1992, Titan Books published his scripts for the above mentioned unproduced episode.

In 2013 and 2023, Coburn's son alleged that the BBC stole the rights to An Unearthly Child, and in the latter case, subsequently withdrew the licence to broadcast the serial.

Career

He also wrote for Dr Finlay's Casebook (1963) and Maigret (1963), and adapted The Children of the New Forest (1964) and Heiress of Garth(1965) for television. He produced the final season of the Mediterranean drama Vendetta (1968), the historical drama The Borderers (1969-70) and the first two seasons of the naval drama Warship (1973-74).

Death

He died of a heart attack while producing the second season of the period drama Poldark in 1977.

"The Tribe of Gum" Controversy

In both 2013 and 2023, Coburn's son, Stef Anthony Coburn, made repeated claims and allegations that he owned the copyright for An Unearthly Child, which he refers to as "The Tribe of Gum", and by default, also the rights to the TARDIS itself. In October of 2023, Coburn withdrew the licence to the BBC for the story, generated a large controversy, as this comes on the heels of the announcement that a complete Doctor Who archive was to be permanently placed onto BBC iPlayer on the 1st November of that year, in commemoration of the show's 60th anniversary. Coburn has also generated controversy due to his remarks concerning Ncuti Gatwa's casting as the Fifteenth Doctor. The BBC have currently yet to comment upon the events, and it is unknown whether the An Unearthly Child licence will be restored, both before or after the anniversary has passed.

External links

• Anthony Coburn at the Internet Movie Database