I was sorry to hear of the passing of writer Chris Boucher, a British author and screenwriter. He was known for his works in, among other things, Doctor Who and Blake's 7, producing some of their most treasured episodes.
My first taste of Doctor Who happened in 1978, when I walked in on my parents, aunts and uncles watching Genesis of the Daleks, Part 6, on TV Ontario. The fact that I can remember this very scene shows how much of an impact it had on me, but this wasn't the moment I became a fan. Rather, it came after my parents kept watching TVO's episodes of Doctor Who, through its classic era of episodes produced by Phillip Hinchcliffe and script-edited by Robert Holmes. The stories were good, and my parents and I got aboard, but it took a little while before my interest grew beyond that of my parents, where I became an avid collector of all things Who-related, eventually joining the fandom, writing fan fiction, and developing as an author.
And that moment came when we watched The Robots of Death, an art-deco-inspired science-fiction-touched murder mystery. The look and feel of the story and, the rich characters, the script -- that was the episode that made me a fan of the series. And it was written by Chris Boucher.
So, Chris Boucher made me a fan of Doctor Who. And Doctor Who fandom turned me into a writer. And being a writer turned me into me. So, it's not too much of a stretch to say that Chris Boucher had a big impact on who I am today, though he'll never know it. Thus I salute him.
Thank you, Chris. Rest in peace.