Alumni Spotlight - Ivor Macfarlane

"Our student world in the early 1970s was a very different place, with different pressures, possibilities and attitudes. As LP Hartley put it in ‘The Go-between’: ‘the past is like a foreign country, they do things different there’."

Indeed, the student world inhabited by Ivor Macfarlane may be an alien planet to those at university in 2026. But, on hearing his recollections, there are many threads of continuity that have survived the intervening half-century. The pressure of deadlines, the teamwork and dedication alive in each student television station, the delight of discovering a national community at a NaSTA conference.

Ivor was NaSTA Chair in 1974/75, and has remained a proud alumni supporter of his beloved GUST. He graciously took time to speak with STAN, and share his recollections of student television from 50 years ago. He began with a disclaimer...

"University was an aspiration not an expectation for most of us. Most of us were the first generation of the family to go to University. Apparently 4% of school leavers went on to Uni. We felt a bit special and a lot lucky and determined to enjoy it. Students were – effectively – paid to be there, not just fees covered but student grants were, just about, enough to live on.

I’ve seen my three daughters go through Universities since then, with more pressures, less funding and a quite correct and justified fear of the consequences of failure. So, if my answers to the questions seem a little self-indulgent, or it seems I didn’t take University, Student TV etc as seriously as today’s students might, then I would like to plead different circumstances.

An Unexpected Beginning

Many of us arrived at university with the intention of seeking out the student television department as soon as possible in Freshers Week. For Ivor, the opportunity sought him....

I was sitting drinking with friends in the Beer Bar: a male only establishment in the Men’s Union at Glasgow. Yes, it was that long ago that women could – legally – be excluded. Anyway, four of us had a few pints together when someone rushes in, looks around and comes over to us and says “you are all science faculty aren’t you?” We were, so we said ‘yes’. He explained that he was student TV – we had never heard of it – and one team had failed to turn up for their quiz – would we come and be ‘science 2’? I can’t recall if there was promise of a beer after, but we agreed and followed him up to the tv studio. We won that heat and went on to win the whole quiz, and the whole ‘making TV programmes’ thing looked interesting and I asked if I could be part of it. I turned up every week – a few people from my Physics class were involved and I fitted in well.

A Week in 1970s Student Television

So what were the day to day realities of working for a student station – and what were the challenges faced by the team?

GUST produced a weekly programme, going out every Friday lunchtime and called – with stunning originality – ‘Lunchtime Friday’.

The typical week was built around three key elements:

• The Monday meeting. Held in the communications office shared with student newspaper (Guardian) and student magazine (GUM)

• Thursday evening recording session. We had the University’s TV studio made available to us for 3 hours, 19:00-22:00. When I started we could do all the studio based jobs – camera, floor manager etc, but had several of the University’s TV professionals doing the ‘clever stuff’ like camera control, sound and video recording, those things decreed dangerous enough that we could do damage. One of things we were very proud of is that within two years that changed to just one professional there just to watch – we did everything. A major effort went into getting that level of trust created

• Friday lunchtime, the members of the team would go to their personal favourite location showing the programme. Those locations included Men’s and Women’s unions, refectory and so on – I was usually in the cafeteria in one of the major buildings.

Each week the programme had an owner, and anyone in the group could ask to have a programme – so a different style each week. Making student TV was something enjoyable to be part of, giving the team members an opportunity to turn their ideas into reality was more important than striving for technical or artistic perfection. We were students not professionals, and wanted to keep things fun.

Even for the times, the equipment was hardly state-of-the-art, black and white cameras and recording equipment, limited number of tapes (so we didn’t keep much stuff for posterity), big use of back and white still photography, developed ourself and taking a couple of days between the idea and the print, and a need for forward planning that modern times could scarcely believe. We’d set a date for our day’s recording a few weeks beforehand and then turn up – very little confirmation or discussion. No group working or WhatsApp chats. But that was our world and it felt natural. What we were doing with video technology was something our grandparents might see as magic, for us it was cool, new, exciting and we felt empowered and lucky.

One very specific constraint that we were always aware of was that 3 hour Thursday evening window. The engineer overseeing us was paid overtime until 10pm, and at that point we had to be out and he locked up the building. So the programme had to be complete and on a tape by 10pm. That was our prime focus, much better to have a programme to show with mistakes and imperfections rather than some perfect elements. There was no opportunity for adjustment after that deadline – it went out as we created it. And – also a great driver for us – the bars in Scotland closed at 10pm in those days, if we didn’t get it all wrapped by about 9:45 we would not get to the bar for a pint afterwards.

NaSTA Manchester 1974 & An Unexpected Election

In 1974, and with NaSTA in its infancy, stations from around the UK gathered in Manchester for only the 2^nd ever annual conference. It is one legacy from Ivor's period in student television that has endured, and gives our alumni community a shared connection across all ages. But what was conference like back then? And just how did Ivor finish that weekend as Chair of the organisation?

I am pretty sure I drove down and it was at UMIST. It’s all a long time ago and a bit blurry but I do recall talks from broadcasting professionals as well as students – quite a bit of focus on how keen students could become TV professionals. The only name I call is well know TV producer Elken Allen. We watched all the competition tapes, I recall being impressed by the range of approaches and styles. I remember us all being very impressed that Hull University had managed to get the previous UK Prime Minister to record an introduction for their programme. There was almost instant rapport between the delegates from across the country: by the end of the event it was as if we were old friends. Of course youth and beer helped a lot with that.

The one element of a presentation I recall distinctly was from a broadcasting professional offering this bit of career advice: I can’t recall the exact words but the gist and sentiment have stayed with me for over 50 years now. He said ‘if you cannot imagine life without being involved in film or tv, then go for it. But if you conceive of a life without, then avoid film/tv as a career, make it a fulfilling hobby. It is a brutal and cut-throat industry – most barely scrape a living, backstabbing is normal. Unless you can cope with that degree of stress, go build a career elsewhere. I did try – failed interviews at Bristol University for their Radio, film & TV postgraduate diploma and an interview with BBC for an assistant film camera role. But I had that advice in my mind, and wasn’t too sad to have failed at it. My daughter graduated with a first class honours degree in film making for UWE back in 2015 and got similar vibes from the professionals she met and interned with. She is now happily working with problem children. Her best friend form the course is the opposite – film industry or nothing and she already has credits on feature films.

On the final evening there was a very nice gathering – dinner and a bar. After the dinner, it was time to elect NaSTA officers. No-one volunteered. Just about everyone who might be a likely candidate – that is they had experience in running their own University’s student TV – was in their final year and felt they had to cut back on outside involvement, certainly not seek more. I think I made it clear that I didn’t think I had the skills, enthusiasm etc to do the job. I was less worried about my studies than most though. Since there were no volunteers, a hiatus was called and, without my noticing much, a few of my new friends (Birmingham and Manchester student TVs I think) kept on talking with me and buying me several pints of strong beer. On reconvening, they proposed me as NaSTA chair and I said something like ‘Ok then’. I was hijacked!

Lessons from GUST

Following his formative experiences in GUST and NaSTA, Ivor found his path away from television, working in the Civil Service and at IBM. But those early student television years left a deep impression on him...

What I learned at GUST helped massively, but I didn’t realise that for quite a while. It was only looking back at about 50 years old that I realised how much I had learned at GUST. Not the TV or the technology but some human stuff.

On a typical GUST Thursday I had about 15-20 people who had to work together against an absolute deadline to get something watchable in the can. And to do that I had no sticks, only carrots. They were volunteers looking to enjoy their time. I couldn’t sack anyone, just encourage. Doesn’t mean there was no shouting, but always good natured with little offence being taken. That experience of coordinating and facilitating others to do the right thing at the right time was the best management training ever.

And I learned about presentation, and seeing what other people can and can’t see. When you get used to a TV studio you can see the non-existent lines – inside that frame will be the whole picture for the viewer, outside is the chaos and kerfuffle of making the programme. As a writer and conference speaker, being aware of the importance of ends and the irrelevance to your end customer of the means is a massive driver to getting things done.

And I learned that you can do good stuff and have fun – they are not contradictory.

And from NaSTA I learned that there are always other people out there in similar situations to you – and usually happy to help. That sharing of ideas and even resources has been a driver in many situations. And I learned that, even if you don’t quite know what you are doing, and haven’t got the talent or resources to make the great big changes and improvement you’d like to, you can keep things going and take small steps in the right direction. In our year or so with NaSTA we didn’t change the world but we did no harm and – I hope – made some small steps. We got regular communications out – quarterly newsletters, at the least to remind all the student TVs that they were part of something bigger. And we got fancy looking laminated ID cards. Printed by us and laminated local teacher training college – totally unofficially. Those cards had no legal or official status but they helped a lot in getting into places, doing reviews etc.

I am terrible at keeping in touch with people, but social media has seen a sea change in contact and communication and the broader internet makes people findable. The recent reunions were kicked off by current GUST realising that they were the oldest student TV and celebrating their 50^th anniversary. Many of us went to their 50^th birthday do. And some of us have got together in Glasgow a few times since – about 8-10 of us this January. The first time we re-assembled was in Glasgow around 2014, 38 years after I left Glasgow. It was like we’d been together the week before – great experience.

Words Of Experience

Ivor is from a unique generation. His cohort were there for the foundation of widespread student television and the formation of NaSTA. They have also had the benefit of 50 years lived experience since those student days. As a father to three daughters, who have followed in his footsteps through university life, Ivor has a fascinating perspective on what is important in life...

My first advice would be – as it is to my own children – trust yourself. Trust your judgement, when in doubt, go with your wishes and whims: whatever it is you do, you will do it better if it’s what you want to do. Most especially, trust your knowledge of your environment, influences, constraints and possibilities. It has been a key element of the presentations and training I delivered for over 30 years. Nobody else knows your situation as well as you do, so take your own advice first. And never do something because some boring old 72 year old advises you. They grew up, went to University and did student TV – in a very different world with very different drivers.

When we ex-GUST people have met up at Glasgow University, to our amazement and on every occasion we’ve met up again the current GUST members who have welcomed and hosted us. So I have had the chance to speak to today’s student TV folks and - probably – bore them with ‘back in my day’ stuff. But they listen and exchange ideas and tell us that it is helpful. I hope it is true, I suspect they treated us with more friendship and interest than we might have offered to a group of 1924 graduates coming to visit us in 1975.

One thing student TV can do is document the world. We didn’t keep much of our stuff due to the cost of media and the need to re-use tapes. But what we did, and the student newspapers too, was capture what things were like then. With the cheap media world we are in now, student TV can be a major force for documenting our times. See yourselves as the future historian’s data source."

Are you an alumni with a story to tell? Do you want to be involved with the next STAN Spotlight? We would like to connect – please email alumni@nasta.tv and share your student television memories with us.