And to tempt the biggest beast of them all – the mega-hulk Harold Hobson – out of his comfort zone to visit the back of a seedy pub in the sticks was epic – a triumph. Harold Hobson was, for many, the Delphic Oracle of the critics, semi-divine. So, wow…!

The grotty, handcrafted programme is all we had time to cobble together because Revival! was postponed. In the middle of a characteristic King’s Head panic I suggested a brilliant David Mercer play – written for television! Joan, Dan’s wife and co-founder of the King’s Head, knocked out the programme on a typewriter (as I recall) and we asked the theatre gods for support.

Let’s Murder Vivaldi was a BBC Wednesday Play, aired in 1968

A commentator writing in The Sunday Correspondent said: “…Ben Sumner is a version of Mercer himself – heavily bearded, often drunk, disillusioned, paranoid, prone to violent outbursts.

Riveting stuff, but the play was only 65 minutes long. Joan and Dan and I had to take a chance that the newly-enthused audience would not feel cheated.

I’d directed a short, brilliant comedy by A.R. Gurney called The Problem – running at lunch time. It was also centred on a husband and wife. I suggested adding it to the Vivaldi event. It worked – punters got their money’s worth.

The Problem King's Head Pub Theatre curtain raiser

Here’s Irving Wardle’s review of The Problem

Let's Murder Vivaldi Irving Wardle Review

Coverage like this, just two years in to the founding of the enterprise must have given the King’s Head a huge boost – surely? And it really couldn’t have happened without Joan – Dan’s wife’s – presence and contribution.