Terrance Dicks, one of the most prolific contributors to sci-fi series Doctor Who, has died at the age of 84.

Dicks had a long association with the BBC drama and wrote for the series between 1968, when he was hired as a script editor, through to 1983, when he wrote 20th anniversary special The Five Doctors.

He had a close working relationship with Doctor Who producer Barry Letts and also worked on Doctor Who stage plays as well as Doctor Who audio drama Comeback, which was one of the first spin-offs to involve companion Sarah Jane Smith in a significant capacity.

In addition to Doctor Who, he worked on soap opera Crossroads, created BBC sci-fi drama Moonbase 3 and wrote for Space: 1999 before overseeing the BBC strand that produced period adaptations of Oliver Twist and Vanity Fair between 1985 and 1988.

A slew of writers, including those in the Doctor Who universe, paid tribute to Dicks. Steven Moffat called him “charming, funny and modest”, while Mark Gatiss said it was “very hard to express what Terrance Dicks meant to a whole generation. A brilliant TV professional, a funny and generous soul. Most of all, though, an inspirational writer who took so many of us on unforgettable journeys into space and time”.

Neil Gaiman added, “I remember reading his and Malcolm Hulke’s book The Making Of Doctor Who when I was eleven or twelve, and deciding then that I would one day write an episode of Doctor Who, because they had shown me how. RIP Terrance Dicks.”