TV presenter Hugh Scully, best known as one of the presenters of long-running BBC favourite Antiques Roadshow, has died aged 72.
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The household name died on Thursday afternoon “with a glass of wine in his hand” while watching television at his Cornwall home, according to his son Oliver. In a statement, Devine said: “Here in the south-west, where he presented Spotlight and where he lived, we will remember him with particular love and affection”.
Peter Salmon, director of BBC Studios and controller of BBC One between 1997 and 2000, said: “Hugh was a great servant of the BBC for more than 30 years”.
In October 1999, the Bradford on Avon-born antiques expert announced he was leaving the corporation to join an host an online auctions service.
Other tributes described him as a “charming and legendary” presenter.
Hugh’s wife Barbara died in 2009 following a short illness.
‘Now the time has come when I must pursue my commercial interests which, sadly, are incompatible with my role on the programme.
Below a clip of Hugh Scully on BBC’s Nationwide.
In 1981, he was chosen to present Antiques Roadshow alongside Arthur Negus. “I have to be realistic and admit that my time with the BBC might be coming to an end”.
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Hugh was replaced on the BBC One show by Michael Aspel. In 1993, he interviewed the former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, following the publication of her memoirs.
