In the radio series, the introduction of a love interest for Mrs Groynes came along quite late in proceedings. I named him Captain Hoagland after my darling dog Hoagy, and this was no secret to anyone involved in the production. The lovely Robert Bathurst, who played Hoagland, knew perfectly well my ulterior motives for writing all the gushy “I love you, Hoagy” stuff. Robert had actually met both Hoagy and me at a festival in Derbyshire, where the idea of the character came to me in the first place.

Hoagland (the character) was a posh, wounded veteran of wartime bomb disposal, and a blooming hero. Bringing him into the second book of the series was very deliberate, because it was important for readers to see Mrs Groynes as vulnerable. His character changed a bit, though. Friends, a bit shocked, expressed the hope that the real Hoagy never read it. But I’ll say no more about why. 

Sticklers sometimes ask whether the title ought not to be “The Man WHO Got Away”, but the answer is no. In a book that uses many song lyrics from the period, the title is the same as the Judy Garland song from A Star is Born.