“When we came over to England [to shoot], we knew there was going to be a Yoda but we didn't know what he would look like,” recalls Kershner.

“We talked about using monkeys, then a chimpanzee, then we thought maybe we would use a little kid, then we thought maybe he would be 8-foot tall - huge with a big white beard like Moses.”

In the end, Yoda came out a little differently. An aged, squat, solitary Jedi master whose veins pump with wisdom, he’s living on the swamp world of Dagobah when Luke Skywalker turns up to be trained.

Designed by make-up artist Stuart Freeborn, Yoda eventually ended up resembling Freeborn himself. The artist combined his unusual facial features with that of Albert Einstein to give the creature a distinctly intellectual look.

In the days before CGI, Yoda was created as a puppet. Muppet man Frank Oz controlled the puppet and afforded him his distinctive voice. But Yoda wasn’t without his complications, as Oz was always below the set, unable to hear the crew (and, pivotally, Hamill) above him.

“Yoda was the most difficult thing to shoot,” Kershner admits. “It was like pulling teeth, but it was exciting! When you saw the rushes, you saw something come alive that had never been done on film - a piece of rubber and plastic, not acting as a puppet, but acting as a living thing.

“It was a character that would swallow and breathe and blink. He was incredible! Frank Oz did a great job with his team.”

With his unique way of talking and his endearingly oddball manner, Yoda quickly became a favourite character in the Starverse. But there were old favourites returning for Empire as well…