“We’ve exploited Battersea Power Station and the river to its great advantage comedically, because there’s this film within the film and this mad director searching for phallic symbols, so you can see where we go with that. We’ve been everywhere: we’ve been out at Epsom Racecourse. We spent about a week in Islington which was good fun. And Primrose Hill: we had a great shag on top of Primrose Hill the other night.”

For all the shagging and the sexual innuendo, Elton is committed to deliver a film that will definitely not be for adults only. Indeed, if it was up to him, everything he wrote and directed would be for as many people as possible.

Joanna Lumley as Sheila

“You write for yourself,” he says. “You do the best work you can and hope as many people enjoy it: as far as I’m concerned, a grey-haired old granny and a groovy youth are all audience to me. I don’t look at the cut of the trousers of my audience, I’m just interested that they come and see it or buy the books or whatever. But obviously, in film, you do have to think a bit, and my target audience is anyone over the age of about 14.

“Maybe Baby is sexy, but it won’t be ‘sexual’, you know what I mean? It’ll be attractive. No, the audience is just anyone who’s got a brain, as far as I’m concerned.”