Postscript

The British media report the Oscar results purely in terms of how British nominees fared. Well done, Helen, nonetheless. Perhaps I'll make the effort to see the film now.

So who followed which rule?

• O'Toole was hoping that rule 3 would see him home, but Whittaker trumped him with rule 8, a role so loud that it appeared leading when in reality it was support. Incidentally, Walter Matthau did it the other way round with his Oscar for The Fortune Cookie.
• Mirren's win is a definite 10. Streep's use of 8, with a touch of 5, for once didn't work, because Helen was in a classy British film, about a real-life classy British drama, playing a real-life classy British queen. The Yanks love that are willing to overlook the fact that Helen's well-known to be a dame.
• Arkin played card 3 successfully (as did Scorsese in direction). All the more reason why O'Toole failed. Hollywood likes to balance things out.
• Jennifer Hudson appears to have benefited from 7. They had to give Dreamgirls something.

So, bad luck, Peter. 45 years of playing outsize characters, desperately seeking to out-Newton Robert, except for once in Goodbye Mr Chips when he had a go at an introvert role. Good try, but no cigar.

But the biggest injustice this year is that Leslie Philips wasn't even nominated.