Susan Boyd, who died suddenly at 55, was a writer and a stalwart of the EastEnders team from the first episode nearly 20 years ago. She had two scripts on the go when a brain haemorrhage killed her.

Her scripts were invariably high tension, bringing light and laughter to the really dark places where she liked to go. This was a gift that Susan brought to millions. Having made her name on Radio 4 with a series of short stories and plays, Susan began writing for TV in 1978 with Another Day, Play of the Week, for BBC2. This was her breakthrough written while working in all manner of strange odd jobs from her flat off Ladbroke Grove in Notting Hill.

An account from Channel 4 head of drama, John Yorke, describes how they met at that time while working in a factory in North Kensington.

He was 17 and spotty, Susan a TV writer and impossibly sophisticated to his naive eyes. Susan took him under her wing; showed him the dark underbelly of 1970s Notting Hill, opened his eyes to things that he'd never dreamed of. They lost touch but 15 years later met up on EastEnders. John, the executive producer, was greeted by: ''F*** me, it's spotty John.''

Actors adored Susan's natural dialogue. Barbara Windsor always asked for her. The first thing Leslie Grantham said when he made a return was: ''Is Susan Boyd still here?''

She was said to have been the first writer to have seen the new challenge in EastEnders. For years script editors put up with the misery of typed drafts over Tipp-Ex-ed out versions of previous drafts. They say that when they had finally deciphered the script, they found living marvellous voices coming off the paper - witty, caustic, streetwise and moving.

The producer of Susan's recent EastEnders ''bubble'' with Pat and Mo, described her work as having absolute integrity. She fought for every word to be true to the character.

Susan's capacity for constructing drama on top of drama gave us the guaranteed entertainment of Casualty in its heyday 1997 to 2000, Holby City and then the Paradise Club.

Her lifestyle in Notting Hill was rather more scary and

dramatic than her works of fiction. Susan established herself among the West Indian community that ran the shebeens which took over All Saints Road in the 1970s.

She hung out in the Apollo pub on the corner where they kept scales on the counter for the convenience of the customers. Susan was at ease and thrived on the buzz, facing up the most fearsome characters if the mood took her. On Sunday mornings, en route to the bus to West Hampstead and horse riding on the Heath, she would make way her down All Saints Road in her jodhpurs with her distinctive walk: a slight swagger and dancing sway.

However, Susan returned to Glasgow, living off Byres Road for the past 10 years, but always yearned after life in the Grove, as it was then.

Her politics were strongly socialist like those of her adventurous grandparents. Susan was born in Glasgow to Eddie Boyd, screen playwright and journalist, and Katy Gardiner, actress and illustrator.

Susan taught herself to read and write by the age of four, drawing the horses around the isolated cottage on the shores of Loch Lomond where she first lived with her family. After attending Hillhead Secondary School, Susan joined Glasgow School of Art and then moved to London.

Susan's kindness and generosity brought her many long-standing friends with shared memories who have been devastated by this loss.

Susan was a rare person who didn't disappear if a friend fell on hard times. She is survived by her much loved daughter, Janet, and her grandchildren, Staci and Kiel; her mother, Katy; Rachel, half-sister, and David, half-brother.

Susan Boyd, writer; born February 7, 1949, died June 18, 2004.