McKellen picked out the iconic 1976 hit by ABBA, ‘Dancing Queen’. He revealed: “This is a track that I dance to more than any other I think, because they play it at my local gay bar in the East End, The White Swan… well, when the lights are dimming, before being turned on far too brightly, this is what they play, and I like singing along to it, and dancing to it.”

Duly, at this point, McKellen’s mood had shifted, and he picked a track by one of the musical greats: Nina Simone. Choosing 1964’s ‘Mississippi Goddam’ he said: “Well, slightly related to what we were talking about, here’s a political song, but it belongs to showbusiness as the introduction makes clear, another wonderful performer, Nina Simone singing ‘Mississippi Goddam’.”

One of the first songs McKellen picked out is ‘Adagio for Strings’ by Samuel Barber. After discussing the death of his mother when he was just 12 years old, he explains: “I expect on this Desert Island I’d like to indulge my melancholic mood occasionally, and this will certainly help.”