- Born
- DiedDecember 11, 2022 (undisclosed)
- Birth nameChristopher Franklin Boucher
- After grammar school, Chris Boucher spent a year in Australia working on a railway before returning to Britain. His proper working life began as a management trainee for Calor Gas, a key company supplying liquefied petroleum gas to the UK. Boucher's employers were eager for him to attain further qualifications and sent him to Essex University, from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. At this juncture, he turned to writing as a means to gain extra income. He began by supplying short stories to women's magazines. His first forays into writing for television were for the series Braden's Week (1968) and as a creator of gags for Dave Allen's show .
As a youngster, Boucher had been fascinated with science fiction, avidly devouring magazines like Amazing Stories and New Worlds. He was thus quick to act on his agent's advice that he submit some of his own ideas to Doctor Who (1963) script editor Robert Holmes and producer Philip Hinchcliffe. This resulted in Boucher being commissioned to write the serials The Face of Evil: Part One (1977), The Robots of Death: Part One (1977) and Image of the Fendahl: Part One (1977), in the process bringing to life Tom Baker 's companion character Leela (played by Louise Jameson). Having by now quit his job at Calor Gas, Boucher went on to work as a script editor and writer for Blake's 7 (1978), Juliet Bravo (1980) and Bergerac (1981), as well as devising his own short-lived sci-fi series Star Cops (1987). Boucher did not get on well with producer Evgeny Gridneff and also criticized the BBC for scheduling the series on BBC2 in the summer.
Later in his career, he turned to writing several Doctor Who (1963) novelizations which featured the character of Leela.
- IMDb mini biography by: I.S.Mowis
- SpouseLynda Macklin(1966 - December 11, 2022) (his death, 3 children)
- In Doctor Who (1963) fan site Outpost Gallifrey's 40th Anniversary Poll, his story "The Robots of Death" was voted the sixth greatest Doctor Who (1963) serial. His story "The Face of Evil" was voted into 89th position and "Image of the Fendahl" came in at number 68.
- He gained a degree in Economics from Essex University.
- He was the last surviving writer to have worked on Doctor Who (1963) in the 1970s.
- His surname is pronounced "Bowcher" (as in the bough of a tree).
- It was a bit like having an aircraft carrier land in the pond in your back garden when Star Wars [Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)] came out. I personally still think there's a place for story-driven drama.
- I was and remain "Old Labour" and an unrepentant supporter of unions in principle and in practice. On the day when no worker needs the help and protection of other workers against unconcerned and/or rapacious employers I will cheer myself hoarse. Since I don't believe in an afterlife however I can say with absolute certainty I shall never see that particular dawn.
- I was a choirboy; I was confirmed; I was wracked with non-specific guilt (still am, come to think). I prayed a lot for forgiveness (at least I've shaken that habit). If you think about it, the convert to a faith is usually more fervent than someone born into it, so I suppose it's logical that the convert from a faith should be more fervent than someone born into rationality. Any and all religions irritate the hell out of me now. I'm not really a zealot, though, unless faced with zealotry. People are perfectly entitled to be as benightedly stupid as they wish. Who am I to judge? What they are not entitled to do, however, is to insist that everyone be as barking as they are themselves. And what they are definitely not entitled to do is to introduce their mental health problems into education and government. Mind you, I get the feeling you never really shake it off, and, if ever the lights go out, I'll be howling at the moon and sacrificing small animals to big rocks with the best of them.
- If you try to tie up everything neatly at the end, it feels as though you tried to tie up everything neatly at the end. Because life isn't like that, I don't think stories should be either.
- Class systems exist in every society, and they always will in some form. They have a lot in common with religions, and, like religions, you can really only ignore them and hope they won't get in your way too much. The trick is not to let class and religion matter to you. But that's a really neat trick if you can do it.
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