Anthony Coburn was born in 1927 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. He was a writer and producer, known for Warship (1973), The Borderers (1968) and The View from Daniel Pike (1971). He was married to Joan Moon. He died on April 28, 1977 in Canterbury, Kent, England, UK.
It is believed to have been Coburn's idea for the Doctor's traveling companion, Susan, to be his granddaughter, as he was disturbed by the possible sexual connotations of an old man traveling with an unrelated teenager.
When redoing a draft of ''An Unearthly Child'' written by C.E. Webber, he came up with the TARDIS' now iconic Police Telephone Box disguise.
Ian MacKintosh dedicated his 1973 novel "Warship": "To ANTHONY COBURN friend, taskmaster and mentor extraordinary".