[Ben Humphrys]

Hi John, Apologies for any confusion. The brown case isn't the one we are working on, it's only the one we bought for spares. The white one is the one we want to rejuvenate. It was originally covered in wax, grey grime, cup rings, snot and who knows what else, so we gave it a scrub and it has now lost not only the grot but also all of its character. The Cherry Blossom may bring it back a bit.

Some may say 'why not use the case from the spare?' Well, I guess we could have a go at cleaning that again but then it's not quite the same as saying 'here's your old radio back, we've renovated it'. It's a good question though, I think it's known as the 'Ship of Theseus' question. The sailors on Theseus' boat replaced all the old rotten planks on their ship one at a time so that none of the original ones remained, so the people ask is 'is it still the same ship'? Philosophers are divided.

Or, where I cone from, they say it's like Trigger's broom, it's the one he's had for years but he's had it so long that he's had to replace the bristles five times and the handle twice.

Another important question is whether or not after having his body dismantled by the transporter and reassembled elsewhere from different atoms, is the original Captain Kirk now dead?

I tell you what, we'll give that brown case a clean and see how it ends up. It doesn't smell at all like nicotine but we'll have a go with some surfactants to start with.