A stunned Jamie accepted the award from his friend and regular collaborator Aidan Gillen - who flew in from Ireland just to talk about Jamie and hand him the Icon Award at the ceremony at the Empire in Leicester Square. Having performed in two Thraves-directed feature films, The Lowdown and Treacle Jr, the actor pointed out how Jamie Thraves' use of narrative transformed the music video medium in the mid-Nineties - as well as making some imperishable classics of the artform.

Jamie joined Oil Factory in 1994, and many of his 'Oiler' friends and colleagues, and several artists who have worked with him, contributed to this year's MVA Icon Award film - edited by fellow Oil Factory alumnus Adam Dunlop, and produced under a veil of secrecy by Carrie Sutton and Beth Montague at Jamie's new production company home, HSI London.