Together with Nathan-Turner, Ian Fraser, and Fiona Hughes, he formed Teynham Productions, a theatrical group specialising in pantomime. Late in life, he became a psychotherapist and also worked on behalf of several charities in Brighton. Downie died on 19 January 2006, after a long battle with cancer, having survived Nathan-Turner who died in 2002. An obituary of Mr. Downie, from which some information for this article was taken, was recently written by Fiona Hughes and appeared in the BBC's internal magazine, Ariel. Gary was also the writer of The Doctor Who Cookbook.