Enacting a scene played out in quite a few UK universities in the 1980s. The Aberdeen version shows Professor Bill Mordue, a Zoologist with less than 10 years experience at Aberdeen, seated at the end of the table, chairing a working party that will decide the fate of the Department of Physics that in various forms had been part of the University for almost 5 centuries. Professors and Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Edward Patterson (Mathematics), Geoffrey Marr (Physics) and Allan Barr (Engineering) stand as grim-faced observers while the administrators make notes and drink coffee. The party's decision resulted in the sole Professor of Physics taking early retirement, Honours Physics being closed and physicists being transferred to other Departments, all in the interests of 'good governance'. How wrong they were. Under new management, Honours Physics was re-instated before the embers of the old had cooled, attracting more students than ever and high quality staff.