I am not one of those people with an eidetic memory but I had this distinct recollection when I was young of reading a strange tale about the Krankies and a conger eel.

Those under 40 probably have no idea who the Krankies were. They were a big comedy and cabaret act in the 70s and early 80s. In real life they were a couple but Janette Tough - a diminutive figure – dressed up as school boy Wee Jimmy Krankie while husband Ian was the paternal figure.

A weird dynamic but they were successful enough to have their own television show and make pop records.

Anyway, I have this vivid memory of perusing the Reader’s Digest – which finally ceased to be in 2024 but hasn’t really been a thing for 30 years – and coming across this bizarre story about the Krankies and being terrorised by a conger eel off the Isle of Man.

As the years went by I started to question this memory and began believing it was all just a fever dream.

Finally, I was compelled to Google it and, lo and behold, there was one result, just one. But it was a comprehensive interview with the couple in the Scottish Sun from only nine years ago in 2017.

Originally from Scotland, the couple split their time now between Devon and Australia and they were interviewed Down Under where Ian has a surf school.

They were asked about whether they were worried about sharks which led to them recounting their frightening experience in Manx waters.

Janette told the Scottish Sun: ‘We did a season in the Isle of Man during the blistering hot summer of 1976 so we took our boat with us on the trailer.

‘One day we were about two miles from the coast so I’m topless sunbathing up the front of the boat when at the back our musical director Davie Squires shouts, ‘I’ve caught a big one here’.’

Janette revealed he had snagged a huge conger eel which she describes as being ‘about five-foot long with a head the thickness of a man’s leg’.

Ian and Davie tried to cut the line but they were too late to prevent the eel flipping into the boat.

‘They jumped backwards and I tipped off the front topless into the water,’ Janette recalls.

‘By now the boat’s unstable with the weight of Davie and Ian at the back with the engine, so it’s listing badly and starts sinking.’

Davie swam the two miles back to shore top get help while Janette and Ian rested on the overturned hull of the boat complete with the conger eel wriggling trapped underneath.

Janette said: ‘When the lifeboat crew pulled us out of the water, I was still topless and one of the men said to me “Well, Wee Jimmy will never be the same to me again”. It turns out the guys had been to our show.’

Ian added: ‘They towed our boat back to Peel harbour — with the conger eel still trapped inside.

‘When we got into port the lifeboat man asks, “Do you want this conger?” But I said, “Nah let it go – it won”.’

The story was funnier and less scary than I remember but my sense of relief that it actually happened is palpable.