Everyone agreed the negatives needed to be protected so they were taken from the labs and locked securely away in Branca’s office.

Meanwhile, the distraught star had locked himself in his bedroom. He was dedicated to his church – famously even going doorstepping in a hat and fake moustache to canvas for new converts – but he also loved the Thriller video he had helped create.

Jackson’s security chief, Bill Bray, called Landis worried about his charge who hadn’t eaten for days.

The director described the sad and broken man he found when he arrived at Jackson’s Encino estate, Hayvenhurst House. 

Landis said: “Bill and I kicked in the door, knocked it down, and Michael was lying there. He said, ‘I feel so bad.’ I said, ‘Michael, have you eaten?’ He hadn’t eaten. It was weird. I just said, ‘Look, I want you to see a doctor right now.’ ”