It’s always a thrill to get a letter published by The Times. I’ve had a few appear over the past 12 months, and my son Owen made his own epistolary debut in February.

My latest letter, above, was inspired by earlier letters about dreams. I particularly liked Dr Peter Cooper’s contribution. He recounted how he decided one night to note the key points of his latest dream so he could relive it in the morning. He said he didn’t bother trying again after reading back, “The banana is tougher than the skin”. It reminded me of a similar disappointment reading back a note I’d made during the television coverage of the 1997 general election. I hoped to find a thrilling, witty account of a dramatic, historic election. Instead I found a barely legible, barely interesting scribble.

The dream I mentioned in The Times was recounted to me in 1984 by my university friend, Richard Attewell. I couldn’t compete with that one – but I remember at the time dreaming of searching for a plastic tray on which to bury a dead fish I had found (in the dream) on a beach. I didn’t think Times readers would find that as amusing.