Hats off to Emily Maitlis. Last week, the Newsnight presenter played arbiter in a wonderfully hostile row between Alastair Campbell and a Daily Mail shill over the controversial article besmirching Ed Miliband’s father.
On Monday, Maitlis faced the far more difficult task of maintaining a straight face while questioning the Cookie Monster, erstwhile star of Sesame Street, on what had hitherto been considered a hard news programme.
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She did it… just.
Cookie Monster and his acolyte, Elmo, are due to star in a new programme for CBeebies, with Maitlis quizzing the monster about his big move to the BBC.
Rumours that Paxman "ducked" the interview remain unconfirmed.