Of all that was said about Tom Stoppard after last week’s news of the playwright’s death, it was striking to see how many times people mentioned his manners.

They were “famously good”, said fellow dramatist, Patrick Marber, and “even courtly”, added theatre critic, Nick Curtis. Actors remembered a man who was “very kind” (Tom Hollander), and “clever and kind” (Harriet Walter), while the writer, Harry Mount, devoted an entire article to “the extraordinary manners of the late Tom Stoppard”.

At one level, this makes sense. The famous are not always known for their humility and grace. Today, the most famed of all might tell a female reporter to be “quiet, piggy” or post an AI-spawned video of himself in a fighter jet dumping what looks like great loads of poop on his critics below.