alternatehistory.com

So Sherry, what’s the due diligence on our Mr. Burton?

I must say, I’m surprised by your interest. I thought you were on an extended break from the industry. You were going to live in India.

I come back now and then. If something interesting comes up I don’t mind taking look. So you’ve met him. What’s your impression of Mr. Burton?

Canned ham.

I thought the same, and yet a star in England. Standards must have been dropping, eh?

He’s pretty much exactly what he presents himself to be. A British actor who starred in a TV series for a couple of years, and is looking for financing for another season. He wasn’t just the star, he was a partner in the Millennium Group, but it looks like the other partners have gone off to other projects, so he’s carrying on.

And his show?

The New Doctor. It’s a licensed spin off of a BBC production, Doctor Who, some kind of Children’s show.

I think I caught a bit of it when I was in England back in the seventies. Black and white, some English lord who lived in a phone booth and helped the military out, sort of science fiction. Peculiar thing to relaunch. I didn’t really get it.

Yes. Apparently, a number of groups were interested in this property, but Millennium got lucky.

And they still have the rights to it?

Sort of. BBC Enterprises has given them a non-binding option to buy. Which means that if they produce something, they can offer it to BBC, and BBC can decide whether to say yes or no.

Yes, David showed it to me. Normally, I’d say it’s a joke option. No one is going to give you money on the basis of a non-commitment like that. No wonder he hasn’t been able to put financing together.

But apparently, they did it twice. They had two seasons that way.

Makes no sense to me.

Must be some kind of British thing, they apparently do things very differently over there.

Must be.

And his partner, Terry Nation.

The real deal. Expatriate Brit, he’s lived in LA for the last ten or fifteen years. He was pretty active over there, he had a few series, and apparently owns a part of the Doctor Who franchise somehow. He has the copyright on the Daleks. They’re apparently the robot villains of the franchise. I’m not sure how it works.

Another one of those British things, I suppose? What’s he done in LA?

McGuyver. TV movies. He’s connected with a lot of projects that didn’t turn out, for one reason or another, the usual sort of thing. He hasn’t been very active lately.

Impressions?

He’s a pitcher, not a player. But he’s probably got connections in London and LA.

I see.

So why the interest?

I don’t know. Burton was a charming old ham. And I like the premise - a Space Doctor who travels the universe helping people. There’s too much militaristic science fiction, wars and police and guns. This seems positive. Honestly, I can see real potential. I could see Nick Mancuso in the role, or Maury Chaykin, Wayne Robson. We could go in a lot of directions, depending.

Still...

I’ll tell you a secret. Moses as acquired the rights to a Science Fiction Channel, and he’s looking for content. This might be a sellable property.