Yes, neither RR engine was a free-turbine. I had a short spell on Tyne overhauls, but don't recall ever seeing a Dart other than in situ.
I wasn't handling the controls, just an interested observer on the flight deck, so I don't recall the exact settings, which were the responsibility of the shift's wizened Vanguard run-up specialist.
But the aircraft was certainly straining at the leash and bucking around in a way that I'd never experienced in my years of LHR/EDI commuting on ID90s. And, though I wasn't aware of the Comet incident at the time, both aircraft would have been in pretty much the same place, pointing straight at the hangars.