Even before the start of the final season at the King's Theatre, the Brooke-Yates management team was considering a return to the theatrical world. Early in 1777 Richard Yates applied for a licence to open a theatre in Birmingham, and a bill to this effect was presented in the House of Commons on 26 March. It was scheduled for discussion on 22 April. Garrick, who had been lobbying for Yates, wrote to Edmund Burke to thank him for his support. Burke had been sympathetic at first ‘despite a very powerful recommendation’ from some of his constituents, and he sided with Yates, but, in the face of direct pressure from a group of his supporters with Birmingham connections, he was pressured into adopting a more neutral stance. He nevertheless reassured Garrick about the outcome: ‘But I believe, as far as I can see, that Yates is in no great danger. The House seems to be with him; & assuredly I do not mean to be a very mischievous Enemy to him.’ Garrick replied: ‘Ten thousand thanks my dear Burke for Your very kind letter – God forbid that all ye Patents in the World should injure Your Interest, where you are so much in Duty and kindness [bound].’ After the debate, however, the bill was defeated.