serial. Elliot, along with James and BBC script editor Donald Bull, met with Hoyle who outlined a potential story for an eight-part serial; this was what would eventually become A for Andromeda. Hoyle drew his inspiration for the serial from the work of astronomer Frank Drake who at that time had begun "Project Ozma", one of the first experiments in the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI). In late June 1960, the BBC made an offer of 250 guineas to Hoyle for the idea, which would be dramatised for television, as a serial in seven 30-minute parts, by John Elliot. Hoyle replied, "It has seemed to me that the overall sum of 250 gns is unsatisfactorily low. My own computations would suggest 1000 gns. I estimate that such a sum would still be only 2–3 percent of the receipts by the BBC from licences. Such a percentage still seems low – it is considerably less than rates available in the US". Eventually, a fee of 700 guineas was agreed. Elliot delivered his draft scripts between March and April 1961; at this point it was decided that each episode should run for 45 minutes and so Elliot had to work to expand each script. Casting The title role of Andromeda was played by Julie Christie. Hoyle originally saw Andromeda as an androgynous character but Elliot changed this to a young woman. The production team were keen to cast a young, unknown actress. While searching for a suitable candidate, co-producer and director Michael Hayes met an agent who suggested Julie Christie, then a student at the Central School of Speech and Drama, recommending her as "the new Bardot". In playing the part, Christie wanted to give the character of Andromeda more emotion but Hayes directed her to act more impassively, using his camera to define the character. Mindful that a sequel was under consideration, Hayes advised the BBC to sign her up before she became a big star; he was ignored and the role had to be recast for the sequel, The Andromeda Breakthrough. Christie went on to have a highly successful film career, her breakthrough role occurring in Doctor Zhivago (1965). Peter Halliday played John Fleming. He had trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company where he met and befriended Michael Hayes. Halliday had a reputation for playing angry young men. Because the serial was