We got slightly carried away with the props, buying a most attractive beheaded head (not sure if you can say that grammatically… Neil?),  two ravens, one which I was determined to pin to Tony's shoulder, but he wasn't having it (the raven that is) so they festooned the table instead, each raven sitting rather delicately against the candleabra.

We hung the attractive deadhead to the ceiling and put our life in our hands by giving Tony a rather large executioner's axe. He became obsessed with the axe as it kept catching the light on the screen, and he began then swinging it around at the most alarming of speeds, causing us to duck and weave.

We even asked Oliver to frame a photo of the Queen, which we pinned up behind Tony and Kim, as you can see. So the scene was finally set, the candlebra lit, the fire alarm disarmed, the red wine poured and then the stage revealed much to the genuine hilarity of the Partners in Portland, who had trouble swallowing their skinny lattes with extra foam; I do believe that Susan almost sprayed hers across the table.

Well, what else can you do when you've got four hours to kill? I'm sure wearing a hat which is reminiscent of that of a morris dancer (Tony) may have taken the edge off any potential disagreements.

My favourite memory was of Tony (who was late) shouting "THERE IS NO WAY I AM WEARING WHITE LEGGINGS, CLAIRE!" Understandably, thank goodness, and then looking very upset when he saw his hat – paused – looked at it again, then looked at Kim's and then said the inevitable, "WHY IS YOUR HAT COOLER THAN MY HAT? I WANT YOUR HAT. LET ME HAVE YOUR HAT, MINE'S RUBBISH!" 

A very, very funny memory indeed…
All ideas for the next fancy dress showdown Partners video conference gratefully received.