Obituary: Alasdair Milne, BBC director general who was a champion of Scotland and no friend of Thatcher Alasdair Milne, after a hugely successful career as a BBC journalist and manager, was promoted to the post of director general. During that period (1981-87) he faced mounting criticism from the corporation's governors and was involved in several bruising conflicts with the Thatcher government. He has the unique distinction of being the only director general to have been dismissed and never offered a knighthood. From the outset the omens did not look promising. Mrs Thatcher, on hearing of his appointment, asked the famous question: "Is he one of us?" She was to find out within a few months when at the beginning of the Falklands War Milne authorised a Panorama programme which aired doubts about the efficacy of mounting the task force. The BBC was accused of not supporting "our boys" and Milne had to justify his actions to MPs. His argument, that the BBC had to be balanced, held little water either in Whitehall or with the licence payers. In fact, Milne was a respected figure in the BBC and was involved in producing and commissioning many historic programmes - not least That Was The Week That Was and the magazine programme Tonight. Under his tenure, the BBC broadcast Live Aid and launched its first breakfast television programme. He returned to his native land in 1967 to become controller at BBC Scotland. He spoke Gaelic and improved his playing of the bagpipes. He had a clear understanding of Scottish political and social affairs and, as Neil Fraser, the senior Gaelic correspondent of BBC Scotland, recalls: "Alasdair did much to further Gaelic, piping and Scottish culture during his time as controller. Once the BBC governors met at Cawdor Castle and were piped into dinner by a local pipey. A senior governor whispered to the piper he would not be required at the end of dinner as "we have brought our own piper with us" - meaning Alasdair." Alasdair David Gordon Milne's father, an Aberdeen surgeon, ran a hospital in India for 14 years. He spent his early years with his grandparents in Edinburgh, where his grandfather was headmaster of Heriots for 20 years. Milne attended Winchester, did his national service with the 1st Battalion Gordon Highlanders and then read modern languages at New College, Oxford. He joined the BBC as a general trainee in 1954 and within three years was editing the influential Tonight programme which was fronted by Cliff Michelmore and whose contributors included Alan Whicker, Fyfe Robertson and Christopher Chataway. Milne encouraged the young team to conduct less reverential interviews and politicians, in particular, were severely grilled. In 1962 he was promoted to current affairs and, along with Ned Sherrin, brought to the screen the controversial (and outstanding) late Saturday night satirical revue, That Was The Week That Was (later TW3). Fronted by David Frost, it captured the mood of the era and varied from anarchic criticism to a deeply sensitive programme on the night of President Kennedy's assassination. In 1965 Milne and Anthony Jay set up an independent production company and commissioned Whicker Down Under and the epic 26-part documentary, The Great War. The following year Milne, along with some prominent Scots (including Jo Grimond and Ludovic Kennedy) bid for the independent television franchise in Scotland. They narrowly lost to Roy Thomson's Scottish Television. In that year he was lured back to the BBC to be controller in Scotland. It was to be among the happiest five years of Milne's career and his first, and hugely significant act, was to change the brass plate outside the Glasgow studios to include the word "Scotland" in bold lettering after BBC. He encouraged series about Scottish politics (charting the rise of nationalism, for example) and moved the focus of programmes away from London. He was instrumental in giving Gaelic the broadcasting foothold that would eventually lead to the emergence of a dedicated channel, BBC Alba, many years later. Fraser recalls being called into Milne's office for a discussion about the Gaelic service and "Alasdair announced, "I have been studying my Gaelic so that I can see what you guys get up to." Some found his brusque manner difficult but to me Alasdair enjoyed robust opinions and a healthy argument. He was a great champion of Scotland and all aspects of our traditions and history. He kept closely in touch with piping in Scotland and he and I served as trustees of the John MacFadyen Memorial Trust, which was very personal to Alasdair. In his youth Alasdair had been taught the pibroch by John. In 1981 Milne moved south to become director general but it proved a tortuous four years. He first had to defend the disastrous import of an American series, The Thorn Birds, while ITV was showing Jewel in the Crown. The most serious crisis came in 1985 after interviews with Martin McGuinness of Sinn Fein and Gregory Campbell of the Democratic Unionists, for the Real Lives series. The Home Secretary insisted it be banned. That sparked a strike at the BBC, especially when Milne took issue with the authorities" involvement. Relations between the governors and Milne soured further when a series from Glasgow, The Secret Society, was not transmitted until after Milne's departure. It allegedly revealed that government departments were employing questionable tactics in their research. Worse, while the film was being made, Special Branch raided the Glasgow studios and confiscated the film. Then Panorama relayed Maggie's Militant Tendency, with the BBC having, eventually, to pay hefty damages. After this catalogue of disasters - for which, as director general, Milne was ultimately responsible - he was called to meet the new chairman, Marmaduke Hussey, and promptly sacked. Milne was told that if he chose to resign "for personal reasons" his severance arrangements would not be affected. Milne occupied the director general chair at one of the BBC's most turbulent periods. What is too easily forgotten is the quality programmes he initiated at the start of his career and others such as the Morecambe and Wise Show, Yes Minister, I, Claudius and EastEnders while DG. Milne married Sheila Graucob, in 1954. She died in 1992. He is survived by their three children. Alasdair Steven