If it turns out that The Hunt for Gollum really is about this minor segue – and honestly, how could it be about anything else? – it seems remarkable that nobody thought to tell McKellen and Mortensen what was going on, even if only to prepare them for the fact that, at 85 and 65 respectively, they might be better off priming themselves for replacement by younger actors. If that is the plan, the team behind this most unexpected new episode are probably regretting not communicating it earlier. For this week McKellen told the Times he would be quite up for starring as Gandalf once again – if he lives long enough.

This follows Mortensen telling GQ last month that he would also be interested in returning as Aragorn provided “I was right for it in terms of, you know, the age I am now and so forth”. Both actors implied they had not been told anything about the new film before it was revealed to the public, with McKellen saying he had heard only “stirrings in Tolkien land”, while Mortensen said: “I don’t know exactly what the story is, I haven’t heard. Maybe I’ll hear about it eventually.”

Both answers strike me as the coy, non-answer a cast member would say if their involvement in the film hadn’t been announced, and they were NDAed.