When Rick Wakeman accepted the job of turning on the Christmas lights in Diss two years ago, he knew it was a weightier responsibility than, to a distanced observer, it might have appeared. The Norfolk market town raised a grand total of £5 for its festive display in 2003 and subsequently found itself called “the stingiest town in Britain” on national TV. The night in question would not just be about letting the light in, but banishing the dark of the past.

To his credit, Wakeman – former Yes keyboard player, self-confessed grumpy old (renaissance) man, DJ and all-round good guy – stepped confidently forward to pull the switch. And for the next few seconds, proud civic cheers rang out until, dramatically, the town centre was plunged into blackness – along, Wakeman recalls, “with every residence within a two-mile radius”.