MIKE Leyland, one of the two legendary brothers whose quirky travel show ran for years on Australian television, has died at the age of 68.

His family announced that Mike died of complications of Parkinson's disease this morning.

Mike and Mal Leyland, explorers and documentary filmmakers, were best known for their television show Ask The Leyland Brothers.

The weekly show, which ran from 1976 to 1984, was watched by more than 2.5 million people at its peak.

It featured the brothers in unusual or far-flung places around Australia which viewers had asked them to visit.

Mike was eight and Mal was five when they migrated with their parents in 1950 from England to Newcastle in NSW, where Mike lived for the rest of his life.

Mike Leyland is survived by his wife Margie, his daughters Kerry, Sandy and Dawn, his stepdaughters Sarah and Alison, and seven grandchildren.