The battle continues

It sounded as if a World Heavyweight Championship was just about to begin. The roaring mob. The pent-up energy. The buzzing excitement at the prospect of an upset, a defeat, a knockout blow. The tension was palpable, seeping through my study, as the contenders squared up to each other for Round Two.

I don’t have Sky and wanted to experience The Prime Ministerial Debate live, as it was happening, rather than wait up until 11.30 last Thursday night to watch it on BBC2, so I had no alternative but to listen to Gordon, Dave and Nick thrashing it out on Radio 4 instead of watching them on screen. I must admit I wasn’t looking forward to it. How to endure 90 minutes of political knockabout without the necessary diversion of being able to scrutinise every hand movement and facial expression for clues as to what really lies behind those carefully manicured hairdos? But from the first 15 minutes of build-up, as Robin Lustig and The World Tonight team set the scene in Bristol and prepared us for combat, I was hooked.