It is regrettable that the Last Night, this harmless musical celebration, has become an ideological battlefield.

In 2020, tempers have frayed more than usual thanks to the BLM movement and the direction of the Proms. decided to cut the words for Rule Britannia – to reverse course after an intervention by Boris Johnson. But it was still an unfortunately low-key performance, as the pandemic took a toll on audience participation. The last night of last year didn’t happen at all, due to the Queen’s death two days before.

After all that we needed one last night that would prove it’s not a bad spell, and can always show us an unapologetic good time. I’m happy to say that’s exactly what we got.

On stage, as always, were the stalwarts BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Chorus and BBC Singers, and on the podium was American Marin Alsop, marking the 10th anniversary of the evening when she became the first female conductor to conduct Last Night.