Ian McNaught Davis – An Appreciation

I was very sad to hear of the death of Ian McNaught Davis, at the age of 84.

Mac was a very important influence to me and, I suspect, many like me. He was effectively the face of the BBC’s Computer Literacy Project, co-presenting the very first series The Computer Programme. Here he is talking about a very old computer.

Mac was the constant presence in BBC coverage of microcomputers through the early 80s. After The Computer Programme, he was the main presenter on the follow-up series Making the Most of the Micro. After a one-off live special, Making the Most of the Micro Live, the show became Micro Live which ran for several series. Mac was presenter throughout this run, along with series regulars Lesley Judd and Fred Harris. Later shows, like The Net dispensed with presenters like Mac, and I think they suffered as a result.

He was a very avuncular presenter with a casual style. The live nature of many of the shows led to the odd item not quite working, but he always handled them with good humour. He wasn’t slick, but because of that, he felt genuine. I particularly loved his seeming inability to fully pronounce the word ‘processor’.

Mac probably means more to me because I was a BBC Micro user, and when I got a job writing software for the Beeb, it was a (very occasional) thrill when software I’d worked on was featured on the show.

Goodbye, Mac, and thank you for the spark.