Anthony Coburn's Son Claims Ownership Of The TARDIS

With just two weeks to go before the fiftieth anniversary of Doctor Who, the show's most iconic image is under threat.

Stef Coburn, the son of Anthony Coburn - writer of the very first episode An Unearthly Child - has launched a legal claim to the TARDIS.

In what can only be described as an opportunist move, trying to capitalise on the show's current stint in the limelight given this months celebrations, Coburn The Younger says in The Independent:

"It is by no means my wish to deprive legions of Doctor Who fans (of whom I was never one) of any aspect of their favourite children's programme. The only ends I wish to accomplish, by whatever lawful means present themselves, involve bringing about the public recognition that should by rights always have been his due, of my father James Anthony Coburn's seminal contribution to Doctor Who, and proper lawful recompense to his surviving estate."

Stef claims that the "informal permission" that his father gave to the BBC to use the TARDIS passed on to his widow upon his death in 1977, and was subsequently passed on to him earlier this year, at which point presumably the pound signs started flashing in his eyes. He now wants the TARDIS to either be removed from the show entirely, or to receive payment every time it appears.

The TARDIS in its first episode

A similar deal has been struck in the past with the estate of Terry Nation, ensuring that they receive payment for the inclusion of the Daleks, but unlike the Daleks the TARDIS features every week in the show, pretty much - the effect that this would have on the budget of every episode is huge.

It should be noted that Mini-Coburn probably doesn't have much of a case at all: the TARDIS was described in the original plans for the show (before Anthony Coburn was even hired) as "something humdrum, say, .... such as a night-watchman's shelter", so it is literally just the fact that it is seen as a police box that can be attributed to Coburn - given that in the late 90s the police themselves lost a legal battle to the rights of the TARDIS image, hopefully this case will be swiftlty thrown out.

At least we now know what legal issues  potentially prevented An Unearthly Child from getting a birthday airing on BBC Four. The BBC will now show the episode at 10:30pm on the 21st - perfectly timed to go out right after An Adventure In Space And Time.

Stef Coburn has had an interesting "relationship" with Who and his late father recently - check out this bizarre Twitter rant from earlier in the year, in which he sent a sequence of Tweets to his late father (who, to reiterate, died in 1977), not only lambasting him, but also having some rather derogatory things to say about the late Verity Lambert's religion and gender:

It paints a portrait of quite a sad, bitter man. While this quest for BBC money will no doubt prove fruitless, one can only hope that Stef Coburn finds whatever peace or happiness he is looking for, whatever the source may be.