Three decades ago, the BBC green room set aside for guests waiting to appear on Newsnight was regularly graced by cabinet ministers, primed and eager to respond to a late-night parliamentary development.
The challenge of settling into that hot seat facing Jeremy Paxman was also a rite of passage for an aspiring opposition politician. What’s more, the show’s filmed reports from foreign shores repeatedly punched through the news agenda with fresh perspectives, just as its in-house investigative unit held its own with current affairs documentaries.
