It started with a whistle-stop exam for the Prime Minister. How many foodbanks? How many zero hours contracts are there? How much money has been borrowed?

He was not entirely sure on all of them, but: 'We had to take difficult decisions. I will defend all those decisions,' David Cameron said.

He was noticeably uncomfortable. Reaching for his water.

The barrage had started with no warm up.

For Ed Miliband it was a question of whether he had borrowed too much? Immigration record? The nuts and bolts of the economy. Did the last Labour government spend too much?

He was far from on his home turf.

It was clear that the leaders were not particularly keen to talk numbers. It was ideas that they wanted to come and discuss.

Their great vision for the country.

But seasoned attack dog Jeremy Paxman had done his homework.

So Mr Miliband went on the counter-attack, looking affronted at questions he didn't like - most of them.

The clock was ticking and it is a much better idea to accuse Paxman of deciding the election before it has already happened. Especially when it comes to questions about a potential coalition with Scotland.

On one thing Ed Miliband and David Cameron might agree.

They may well have preferred to have been interviewed by each other than the former Newsnight presenter, refreshed after a break from his regular late night news show slot.