Roy Thomson

"made of me. The following Wednesday the press was issued with a hand-out announcing the founding of Scottish Television Limited, under the chairmanship of Roy Thomson. We had no studio, no artists, no announ- cers, no producers, no technicians, no musicians and no programmes but we had a contract (signed on 19th June, 1957). I remember that when the letter arrived Jim Coltart was sitting opposite me and I tossed it over to him. He read it. 'What do we do first?' he asked. 'I haven't an idea.' Jim stared at me for a moment. 'Roy, I get a certain impression that you know nothing about running a TV station.' 'That's quite correct.' He looked horrified. 'But you said in the application to the Authority that you were part-owner of two stations in Canada!' 'Well, I am. But I only took a share in them to give Rupert Davies—Senator Rupert Davies—some financial backing when he needed it. I've never had anything to do with the running of them.' Jim Coltart closed his eyes as if to shut out the sight of a cruel world, then broke into a laugh. 'That's fine,' he said. 'So we both begin from scratch.'"