"Oh, cheers, happy birthday in advance then," Steven said. "And must be wonderful having a partner to share it all with now. Especially him having family of his own that's now yours."

Steven really did have a surprisingly optimistic mental picture of family all things considered.

"I've told Llewellyn that this year I'll teach him how to have a proper Jewish Christmas," Steven said, with a grin. "We're going out for Chinese."