Tributes to Sir Charles Wheeler

Colleagues have paid tribute to the BBC foreign correspondent Sir Charles Wheeler, who has died aged 85.

Sir Charles was made the corporation's South Asia correspondent in 1958 and came to attention covering the Dalai Lama's flight from Tibet.

He reported from the US for nearly ten years from 1965, covering the assassination of Martin Luther King, the height of Beatlemania and Watergate.

Sir Charles also worked for Newsnight for 15 years and won awards for his documentaries for BBC radio and television.

In 2000 he criticised the BBC for dumbing down and condemned news journalism for becoming too stylised.

Former Newsnight colleague Gavin Esler described him as a "reporter's reporter".

BBC director general Mark Thompson said: "To audiences and to his colleagues alike, Charles Wheeler was simply a legend.

"His integrity, his authority and his humanity graced the BBC's airwaves over many decades.

"He is utterly irreplaceable but like everyone else, I am privileged to have worked with him."

Sir Charles and his wife Dip Singh had two daughters - barrister Marina, who is married to London mayor Boris Johnson, and Shirin, who followed him into the BBC.

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.