AV News 187 - February 2012
Richard Brown FRPS
I was saddened to hear from Bill that Iain Lang had died. He was certainly one of
the characters who enlivened the AV scene many years ago. In the 1980's, when
Michael Tickner was editor of AV News, I think he recognised in Iain a fellow
iconoclast and indulged him with a column in every issue. One of the main
purposes of 'Lang's Lines' seemed to be to rail against everyone and everything
that Iain regarded as the AV establishment. I can clearly recall several rows that
ensued as a result of Iain's comments when I was on the AV Group Committee.
Nevertheless, he seemed to have an endless source of ideas for sequences that
he would frequently put forth in the column, with the invitation to anyone who was
interested to take them up. Surprisingly, in view of his evident enthusiasm for AV,
I can't recall ever seeing a sequence which Iain himself had made. Perhaps one
of the other old hands can enlighten me.
The most visible outlet for Iain's talents was as a voice-over artiste. If a
Scottish voice was required, Iain's brogue fitted the bill admirably, such as in
Colin Balls' "Who Can Deny Them Tomorrow'. When I was planning 'The Man
Who Saw the Future' I naturally thought of Iain for the voice of John Logie Baird
and he kindly recorded the commentary for me by 'remote control' and sent me
a tape. That was about five years ago and I'm sorry that my tardiness in finishing
the sequence meant that he was never able to see it.
Iain Lang was larger than life in every sense of that term. Although he could be
maddeningly difficult to deal with, his essential humanity made him likeable. With
Iain's death, the AV world has lost one of its great one-offs.
Colin Balls FRPS
It was with surprise and
sadness that, only very
recently, I learnt that Iain
Lang had died two years
ago, after a long illness.
Although we had been
good friends in the 1980s
and 1990s our paths had
drifted apart and there had
been little or no contact in
the last decade.
As I write these thoughts Christmas cards are flooding in and once again at least
once a year contact is made with old friends. Unfortunately, Iain told me long ago
that he did not send Christmas cards nor did he want any, so that is my excuse
for the complete loss of contact!
I had first come across Iain through his writing of 'Lang's Lines' as the regular
end-piece of AV News throughout the period of Michael Tickner's editorship of
the magazine in the 1980s. He was always full of original ideas and suggestions
for producing slide-tape programmes. The editor described Iain's contributions as
"provocative, na