Words Dept.: entry

One thing that’s good about BBC iPlayer is that when you see something unusual on Newsnight, you can go and check that it really happened and that you haven’t just fallen asleep and dreamt it.

Last night, for example, I could have sworn I saw Jeremy Paxman flirting with a semi-articulate 20-year-old girl called Stacey. She thanked him for letting her and her mate (off BBC Three) on the programme. He grinned and, a little flushed, said: “Not many people say that.” It was quite charming, although I began to question whether alcohol and/or ecstasy had been taken to “soften the mood”.

Then, almost immediately, you can see if the frightening bloke who threatens to shuffle out of the front of the screen right into your living room like something out of a Japanese horror film was really there, or if you imagined it.

And whether reporter Stephen Smith is really credited on-screen as “UFO Editor”. And if Paxo inexplicably uses the word “univorce” before launching into an impression of Ricky Gervais as Andy Millman. Perhaps he was showing off to Stacey.

The truth, as they say, is out there. Well, actually it’s here. It all kicks off at about 37 minutes 20. The word “univorce”, which I intend to use in my daily discourse from this day hence, makes its presence felt at 40 minutes 45, followed rapidly by the Millman thing and the scary old dude.

Added value bollocks: Another iPlayer clip, this time showing the loveable but poorly-briefed Andrew Neil accusing a female MP of being pregnant when she isn’t. (FF to 9 minutes 35.)

Sadly these clips’ll be gone in a week. So grab ‘em while you can.