BD and I were dealing with a wee dilemma. Our colleague X was doing the rounds asking for sponsorship. Meanwhile we needed to approach the same people to gather contributions to X’s retirement present. We feared that few people would want to donate twice.

Then things got very sticky when word came that X was involved in malpractice ‘of BBC proportions’ with male students. It sounded like the University would need to contend with its own Jimmy Savile scandal, and that BD and I were the ones to bring the accusations to the attention of our senior colleagues.