IAN HYLAND

on last night’s telly

Paxman On The Queen’s Children, Channel 5 ★★★★

So if you’ve been wondering where David Dimbleby might end up following his retirement from Question Time, recent history suggests there’s every chance he’ll find his way to Channel 5.

Last year his fellow BBC big gun Michael Palin travelled to North Korea for the fifth channel.

And last night another former BBC heavyweight Jeremy Paxman, inset, was poking around another weird and secretive regime on

Channel 5’s behalf. And it has to be said that the presence of the man described by one interviewee as “The Great

Inquisitor” helped to raise this documentary above the level of cut-and-paste royal tittle-tattle. That’s not to say Paxman avoided the more gossipy end of things. He was positively beaming as Giles Brandreth explained that after a few years of frosty relations between the Queen and Prince Philip, “the results of the later ups in their marriage were Prince Andrew and Prince Edward”. (Bit too much information there, Giles.) As a recently converted monarchist Paxman did, however, give the Queen’s four children a more sympathetic hearing than they might have expected: “We all make mistakes.”

He didn’t let them off the hook completely, of course. Discussing the reasons why the nation took some of their spouses to its heart, Paxman pointed out: “Fergie and Diana were much better than the royal children at looking human.”

The Mirror’s highly respected advice guru Coleen Nolan also felt the blunt end of his tongue. With barely disguised glee Paxman declared Andy – Nolan Sister Coleen’s 1978 musical love letter to Prince Andrew – “appalling”.

Never mind, Col – Paxo is clearly more of a (Give A Little Bit Of) Attention To Me kind of guy.