The published table of the BBC star salaries contains 96 names, but the real number is likely to be higher as a technicality allows the true figures to be masked.

The government required the disclosure of “people paid more than £150,000 of licence fee revenue” in the last financial year.

But that means direct payment only. Anyone who is paid via an independent production company is exempt from the list, as is anyone paid by the corporation’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide.

Some stars also earn far more than the published figures suggest.