When I corresponded with John Lucarotti – initially in September 1978 and latterly in December 1980 – I got the impression that Doctor Who was history to him in more ways than one. Keen to discover more about the man behind some of the series’ most acclaimed historical stories, I had tracked John down to Corsica. “I don’t know why anyone in their right mind would want to become a TV scriptwriter,” he told me, perhaps suggesting that his new career, running a restaurant on the island with his wife, was more fulfilling.