Bafta-award winning writer Nick Fisher has been remembered by the BBC as a “kind, welcoming and inclusive” person who showed “creative brilliance”.

The 63-year-old scriptwriter and author, whose TV credits include Holby City, EastEnders, Casualty, Hustle, and The Giblet Boys – for which he won a Bafta in 2006 – was last seen in Hooke, Dorset, on Tuesday afternoon.

Dorset Police discovered a body in Dorchester on Thursday morning believed to be that of Fisher, although formal identification is yet to take place.

The death is not being treated as suspicious and the coroner has been notified. Fisher’s family have also been informed.

Kate Oates, head of continuing drama at BBC Studios, remembered her colleague as a “joy to work alongside” and said her thoughts were with his family.

Ms Oates said: “We are devastated to hear the sad news of the passing of Nick Fisher.

“Nick wrote episodes for EastEnders and Casualty; but it was Holby City that benefited most from Nick’s creative brilliance.

“Nick wrote countless episodes of the show, and was much loved by his colleagues around the writing table, as well as the directors and actors lucky enough to bring his work to the screen.

“By nature, he was kind, welcoming and inclusive; a joy to work alongside.

“Our thoughts are with his family and his loved ones at this time.”

Celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall was a close friend of Fisher’s, and he appealed for help when he went missing.

He later tweeted that he was “so very sad” to say “our dearest friend Nick Fisher has passed away” and remembered him as “a great writer and broadcaster” who was “always full of insight and compassion”.

Fisher appeared alongside Fearnley-Whittingstall on his Channel 4 series Escape To River Cottage and its spin-off, River Cottage: Gone Fishing.

He is also a writer of crime fiction and non-fiction covering fishing and masculinity.