Verity Lambert, the first producer of Doctor Who and one of the most respected figures in television drama, has died aged 71.
Lambert was also the BBC's only female producer in 1963 when she worked on the time-travel drama that grew to become one of the UK's most popular TV shows. She died last night following a long illness, but was "working right up until the end", according to the BBC.
She also produced dramas including The Newcomers, Adam Adamant Lives!, Minder and Quatermass, as well as Jonathan Creek and BBC1 comedy Love Soup.
Her death comes only days after it was announced that she was to receive the Working Title Films lifetime achievement award at the 2007 Women in Film and Television Awards next month.
This recognition follows the OBE she received in 2002 for services to film and television.
Lambert, who formed her own independent television company, Cinema Verity in 1985, had just finished producing series two of Love Soup when she died.
Jane Tranter, the BBC fiction controller, said: "Verity was a total one-off. She was a magnificently, madly, inspirationally talented drama producer.
"During her long and brilliant career there was no form of drama that was beyond her reach and that she didn't excel at. From the early episodes of Doctor Who to the still to be transmitted comedy drama Love Soup, via Widows, Minder, GBH, Eldorado and Jonathan Creek (to name but the tiniest handful of credits) - Verity was a phenomenon. "She made the television drama genre utterly her own. She was deaf to the notion of compromise and there wasn't an actor, writer, director or television executive she worked with who didn't regard her with admiration, respect and awe. "She will be hugely missed but her legacy lives on in the dramas she made, and in the generations of eager young programme-makers she has inspired." BBC comedy executive producer Jon Plowman added: "She was extraordinary - very keen to get shows right and to encourage people, as she did for me in my early days.
"She never held back in her praise and was not jealous of anyone else's success - she enjoyed watching people grow up around her."
Kenith Trodd, the veteran drama producer who worked with Verity Lambert on the Dennis Potter film Dreamchild told MediaGuardian.co.uk that Lambert was "one of the most important half dozen drama producers around from the 1960s to the present day."
Russell T Davies, the current writer and executive producer of Doctor Who, added: "There are a hundred people in Cardiff working on Doctor Who and millions of viewers, in particular many children, who love the programme that Verity helped create. This is her legacy and we will never forget that."
· To contact the MediaGuardian newsdesk email editor@mediatheguardian.com or phone 020 7239 9857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 7278 2332.
· If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly "for publication".