Philip Burton
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| Profession | Scientist Businessman |
| Organisations worked for | Anomaly Research Centre |
| Age | 40 |
| Height | 6'0 |
| Hobbies | Golf, socialising with his celebrity philanthropist friends |
| Skills | Business, Science |
| Status | Deceased |
| Appearances | Series 4 Prequel Webisodes Series 4 Series 5 |
| Actor/Actress | Alexander Siddig |
Philip Burton (born ca. 1971) was a scientist and businessman who became the ARC's private investor after its suspension and revival. He was more interested in the Anomalies than the creatures, and was responsible for the New Dawn project.
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Bio
As a young man, Philip Burton was a gifted and idealistic scientist, eager to make the world a better place. But as he started to make discoveries, and his reputation grew, so too did his desire to make money. Philip realised he was as good a businessman as he was a scientist and liked the celebrity status that came with his success. He was viewed by the public as an intelligent, likeable and ambitious, and his employees saw him as tough but firm.
But Philip could also be controlling and manipulative, ruthless in his desire to make his ambitions a reality, although he could also be heroic. When the Anomaly Research Centre was revived, Philip took over as its new private investor. He also at some point met Helen Cutter, who convinced Philip to devise New Dawn: a secret project to create a stable, man-made Anomaly in a controlled environment and to use its infinite green energy as free, unlimited energy for the world.
Series 4 Prequel Webisodes
Philip told Matt Anderson in an introductory video what the company did. Jess Parker mentioned that Philip didn't come in very often, prefering to use James Lester to find out what was going on. (S4 Prequel Episode 3)
Episode 4.1
- "He's a living legend. If all the Fantastic Four were rolled into one he'd kinda look like this. Would not be a superhero, obviously, he's more of a science nerd."
- ―Why Connor thinks that's a compliment we'll never know
After an incident at the ARC in which the Dracorex escaped from the menagerie, Philip came to the ARC and told Lester that the Minister had asked him to extend the budget for the ARC operation to which he'd agreed. He approached Matt, who had claimed to be the one responsible for the dinosaur's rampage, and asked why he was covering for Jess, saying he wasn't a very good liar. However he quickly dismissed the reason, and before he left he reminded Matt that he could be fired if he screwed up again.
Philip returned to the ARC after Connor Temple and Abby Maitland had returned to the present, and wasn't sure whether to be complimented or insulted by Connor's description of him to Abby. He and Lester told them that their jobs as field team members were no longer required, as the policy was now for all team members to be from the military.
Episode 4.2
Philip watched Matt's interview with Abby and Connor, deducing that they were tired and would see that they didn't need to return to the team eventually, though Lester didn't think so. As Philip left, Lester convinced him that Abby could look after the Menagerie creatures; but when it came to Connor, Philip thought him to be undisciplined and decided not to let him rejoin the ARC.
Philip later learned that a creature, a Kaprosuchus, had been loose at docks, and after realising that the Anomaly must have opened and closed before the ADD was created, noted it was a pity seeing as they had lost the potential data. Matt attempted to convince Philip and Lester to allow Abby and Connor back onto the team for their efforts in helping to kill the creature, and though Philip didn't want to as the new policy was strict, Lester pointed out that they were still technically field team members due to their disappearance before the policy was put into place, and Philip reluctantly agreed.
Episode 4.3
- Connor: "What kind of idiot gives someone a job to do and doesn't even brief them properly?"
- Philip: "I can still hear you Connor."
- ―Connor unknowinly insults his boss while he's listening in
After the new security system was installed, Philip, on his way out of the ARC, found Rex outside of the Menagerie. Philip tried to warn Connor to deactivate the scan, but the ARC entered lockdown and Philip and Rex were locked in the lab as the air inside was slowly sucked out. Philip was also unpleased when he overheard Connor call him an idiot over the communications for not explaining the entire system to him. Philip believed that he couldn't be saved, as a scan of his retina was needed to lift the lockdown and there was no retina scanner in the lab. Philip was also unhappy that Connor was putting Rex's life ahead of his, and tried to tell Connor about New Dawn before losing consciousness.
After Connor cancelled the lockdown, medics retrieved and revived Philip. Afterwards, before leaving the ARC, Philip thanked Connor for his resourcefulness and warned him to keep Rex away from him in future. When Connor asked Philip about New Dawn, Philip decided that it could wait until another time.
Fortunately Connor managed to cancel the lockdown, and medics managed to revive Philip. As he prepared to leave, he thanked Connor, saying he had underestimated him. Philip asked Connor to keep Rex away from him in the future, and although Connor asked if he was going to tell him what New Dawn was, Philip said it could wait until another time.
Episode 4.4
Due to the inconveniences of keeping and taking care of the creatures in the ARC Menagerie, and the lockdown incident in which he was nearly killed, Philip decided to arrange for them to be put down. Lester didn't agree, but Philip pointed out he was in charge of the science division. Philip argued with Abby was that they were being forced to live out miserable lives in a world they don't understand and that most had little chance of even making it home.
Lester was moved by an upset Abby who wanted to save the creatures, and decided to blackmail Philip; implying that, as the Anomaly operation couldn't possibly be kept secret forever, he would reveal Philip's cull of the creatures to the public on the day the Anomalies became public knowledge. Philip grudgingly agreed to spare the lives of the creatures, but told Lester that he wouldn't be forgetting it.
Episode 4.5
Philip tried to recruit Connor into his own Anomaly-studying team, but Connor was reluctant to decide without talking to Abby first, to Philip's annoyance. When the ADD picked up a new, flunctuating Anomaly signal, Philip told the team to get down there before remembering it was Lester's call, who agreed and wasn't pleased with Philip butting in. Because the signal wasn't strong enough to confirm an exact location, Philip decided to use the ADD to lock onto the Anomaly's exact location. He ordered Abby and Connor to prioritise the Anomaly instead of the creature, but Lester reminded him that he ran the operation.
Philip convinced Connor to go after the Anomaly, and helped Jess lead him to it. Connor found the remnants of a fuel-smuggling operation at the Anomaly site, and saw that there was a metallic substance near the Anomaly, and Philip and Connor both came to realise that acid created by the dumped fuel was causing the Anomaly to become weakened. Philip was elated by the discovery, and after some trouble with the Lanyrinthodont, they were returned. When Connor arrived back at the ARC, he told Philip he didn't want to abandon the others and would work for Philip in his spare time, and he told Connor that their work must remain secret, making it clear that even Abby wasn't allowed to know.
Episode 4.7
- "At the risk of sounding conceited, my opinion on a range of issues matters to a lot of important people, especially other scientists.."
- ―{{{2}}}
Philip came into Connor's own lab as he was showing off his Anomaly Dating Calculator, agreeing with Abby that it was impressive. As Connor and Abby left to deal with a new Anomaly, Philip warned Connor that not everything made in the lab would concern the ARC team.
Philip later met Danny Quinn, who had come through the Anomaly and was at the ARC, saying he wouldn't blame him if he had killed Helen Cutter as he may have had no choice, but Danny said it was actually a Raptor and a fall off a cliff that killed her off. Danny was suspicious of Philip and implied that he knew of Philip's alliance with Helen. Philip brushed him off, and once Danny went to talk to his brother, Philip told Lester that Danny seemed badly shaken from his experience and seemed stressed after the encounter.
As Philip began to leave the ARC, Connor stopped his car and told Philip that he had been doing projections based on the Anomalies they had encountered and that their rate of appearance was growing. Philip asked what it meant and Connor said it would be a catastrophe, tens of thousands of Anomalies opening at once, but wasn't sure what would happen exactly. Philip assured Connor that they would do something about it and invited him into his car, saying they had much to talk about.
Episode 5.1
Philip reviewed Matt's interrogation of Patrick and read his report on Danny's departure before he confronted him, asking if Danny had said anything before he'd left; but Matt said he'd been to preoccupied with Patrick. Philip then visited Connor in his lab, telling him that his Convergence theory wasn't proof of much, and told him to accompany him elsewhere.
They headed to a Prospero Industries facility, and after making him sign a confidentiality form, Philip showed Connor his New Dawn project. He explained the purpose of the project, and that he wanted Connor's help. Philip then assigned April Leonard to be Connor's assistant.
Later on, April contacted Philip from inside Connor's lab to tell him that Connor would have read the New Dawn file by morning. Philip then ordered her to see if Danny had told anyone about his connection with Helen, have Connor kept on a tight leash until they were certain of his loyalty, and revealed that Connor's Anomaly Convergence theory was a key piece to a breakthrough.
Episode 5.3
Connor called Philip to report that they'd made history, as Connor had created the First Man-made Anomaly.
Episode 5.4
Philip arrived to inspect Connor's Anomaly, but it had closed. He cast Connor's apologies aside, saying he didn't have to apologise. When the Anomaly was reopened and the team discovered what they were up to, Philip ordered them to ignore the Anomaly before leaving to oversee the data they were receiving at Prospero.
When the data transfer stopped because the Anomaly had been locked, Philip called Connor and learned that a swarm of Future Beetles had come through the Anomaly. This didn't deter Philip from ordering Connor to unlock the Anomaly until he learned that the Beetles could eat through reinforced concrete within minutes. Philip began to fear that the Beetles would become a great plague if they got out of the ARC, and April convinced him that they should sacrifice the ARC to stop the Beetles if it meant ensuring the safety of New Dawn.
Philip told Connor about his plan to incinerate the ARC, saying it was due to the risk to the public, and Connor asked that he wait until Connor tried his own plan to kill the Future Beetles. However Philip decided to initiate the destruction sequence anyway, but the Beetles had caused the program to fail and Connor's plan eradicated the threat.
When Connor came to the New Dawn Facility, Philip lied that he had waited for Connor's plan to work, and said that the data they had collected had allowed them to understand how to make their plan work even more. Philip also told Connor to come the next day for a systems check; however he had already created a larger version of Connor's device to create an even larger man-made Anomaly with once Convergence came.
Episode 5.5
After Lester returned, Philip came to the former's office at the ARC to find the entire team there. Philip asked Lester what was going on, and the two then discovered that a Tyrannosaurus Rex was rampaging in Central London.
Philip wanted to go to New Dawn with Connor to start the project up, but Connor delayed him by asking Philip for help with a fault in the New Dawn Prototype. When Connor and Philip were finally prepared to leave, they learned that dozens of Anomalies were opening up worldwide, and Philip realised that Convergence was starting. Before the two left, Connor asked Philip why the latter had known Connor's Convergence theory was right and had turned Connor away from it, and Philip admitted that he was trying to stop it distracting Connor from his work with New Dawn.
En route to New Dawn, when Connor and Philip got caught in a traffic jam, Philip directed Connor through Stanley Street Car Park as a shortcut. In the Car Park, their car was attacked and flipped by a Kaprosuchus. While Connor was trapped by his leg, Philip was unscathed and opted to leave Connor to start New Dawn. Connor then resorted to telling Philip that in the future, the Earth was a dying wasteland because of New Dawn, and Matt was sent back from this future. But Philip didn't believe Connor, and admitted he hadn't completely trusted him. Philip then placed the power cell for Connor's EMD just out of his reach, and left him and headed for New Dawn.
After arriving at New Dawn, Philip began the New Dawn Machine's startup sequence; and when Connor arrived with the ARC team and tried to crash the machine's computer, Philip locked him out of the system. When Matt arrived and reached Philip, the latter believed that stopping Convergence using New Dawn was the only way to save the world, but Matt argued that nature had to be allowed to run its natural path. Despite Connor's sabotage to the New Dawn Machine, Philip had been prepared for Connor's actions, and Connor had in fact unknowingly made New Dawn ready. Despite Matt's pleas that starting New Dawn would result in the destruction of all life on Earth, Philip activated the machine and created the New Dawn Anomaly.
Episode 5.6
Matt kept warning Philip of the future New Dawn would create, and pleaded to let him go and find Connor, but Philip refused, believing that nothing was wrong. When Matt asked if Philip had actually even cared about Connor, Philip claimed that it was Matt's fault Connor had turned against New Dawn in the first place. Philip then had two guards escort Matt out while he observed the New Dawn Anomaly.
Added by Marcman200Later, to Philip's surprise and stress the Anomaly began to break down the facility and expand out of control. He was too preoccupied to deal with Emily when she was captured and ordered her to be taken away. As the New Dawn Anomaly began to alter Earth's weather patterns, Philip was forced to watch as the staff evacuated the building despite his orders for them to stay. As the Anomaly's effects intensified, Philip walked outside and saw what the Anomaly was doing to the planet's atmosphere. A distraught and upset Philip then realised that Helen had tricked him, and that Matt had been right about New Dawn destroying the Earth.
When Matt, Connor and Abby found Philip upset and in shock over what his life's work was doing, Connor convinced him to help them stop New Dawn. Philip realised that they could stop the New Dawn Anomaly by deactivating the system, and instructed Connor and Abby to crash the turbine room's computer, while he and Matt went to the control room. There, Philip admitted to Matt that deactivating the system would destroy the building and kill the former, and asked Matt to leave.
Once the ARC team left the facility, Philip self-destructed the building to try and stop New Dawn, and was presumably killed.
Appearances
- S4 Prequel Episode 3 Template:FirstAppearance
- Episode 4.1
- Episode 4.2
- Episode 4.3
- Episode 4.4
- Episode 4.5
- Episode 4.7
- Episode 5.1
- Episode 5.2 (mentioned)
- Episode 5.3 (mentioned)
- Episode 5.4
- Episode 5.5
- Episode 5.6 (death, last appearance)
Trivia
- Philip has encountered the least amount of creatures as a main character
Source
| Series 4 Main Characters |
|---|
| Connor Temple • Abby Maitland • Hilary Becker • James Lester • Philip Burton • Matt Anderson • Jess Parker • Gideon Anderson • Emily Merchant • Patrick Quinn |
| Series 5 Characters |
|---|
| Matt Anderson • Connor Temple • Abby Maitland • Hilary Becker • Jess Parker • James Lester • Philip Burton • Emily Merchant • April Leonard |
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