I paid VJ a visit to find out if she wanted to travel up to work with me. I was also keen to know whether any of her colleagues could help me find some materials to prepare a tutorial. She wasn’t interested in either question. All she could talk about was her newly acquired box set of PC’s latest film, the plot of which focused on a love affair in outer space.

I had no idea that PC had a sideline in film-making, so when I saw him later that morning I quizzed him closely. He admitted that he had been making films for charitable purposes, mainly to support an unemployed bearded technician friend of his. He invited me to show my support too by wearing yellow a plastic band around my wrist. I could also buy some yellow tights, if I was interested – although I had to be careful because they were not colourfast and would bleed in the wash.