Appreciation: Dennis Dick, veteran PR man, TV programme maker and conservationist

Dennis, who has died at the age of 84, began his BBC career in publicity in Edinburgh. After his brief stint with Grampian in Aberdeen, he returned to the BBC on the Radio Times in London, becoming TV editor in the late 1960s.

A move to Bristol saw him run the BBC publicity and PR services in the south and west of England. He then moved into TV production, becoming editor of TV feature programmes for BBC West. In 1984, he returned to Scotland, as manager of BBC Aberdeen. He continued to make radio and TV programmes there, including a TV series, which ran for several years, in which Jimmie Macgregor walked the countryside throughout Scotland.

Dennis retired early in 1988, to run his own TV production company, Wildview Productions. Then his life took on a new twist – he was elected to the Scottish Wildlife Trust Council. He went on to become vice-chairman and finally chairman of the trust from 2005 to 2008.

In due course, he held various other posts within the Scottish environmental sector. In his 80th year, in the 2014 New Year’s Honours list, Dennis was awarded an MBE for services to biodiversity, conservation and environmental sustainability in Scotland. Sadly, he was struck down with motor neurone disease in 2017. But, despite the increasing incapacity caused by this condition, he went on to perform much publicity work for the MND Scotland charity.

This notably included his being their keynote speaker at a reception held at the Scottish Parliament in June 2018. By then, Dennis could no longer talk clearly, so he used an iPad to speak for him, in his own voice, which he had had digitised before it deteriorated.

Dennis passed away on 3 February and is survived by his wife, Mary, and son, Jonathan.