…This afternoon we could choose what we wanted to do.
We chose to do a radio play – comedy, of course – about the Nine O’Clock News.
It was great to do.
On Monday I am going to bring a classical tape to play during lunchtime.
I am fed up of Madonna warbling on about being Like A Virgin…

I still can’t abide it. I think my dislike dates back to an afternoon in the summer of 1985, when one of our neighbours decided to sunbathe in her garden while playing the song over and over again. It was a form of suburban torture.

How pompous of me to say that, rather than bring in another kind of pop music, I would go for something classical. Predictably I chickened out in the end. I’d forgotten, though, that we could listen to tapes during lunchtime. I wouldn’t get to enjoy that kind of freedom again until I was in the sixth form.

As for the radio play, nothing survives on paper, on tape or in memory. I think that’s best for everyone.