At times over the last few weeks the House of Commons chamber has been more akin to a gladiatorial Roman amphitheatre than the so-called 'mother of parliaments'.
With MPs baying for blood over 'partygate', Boris Johnson's 'are you not entertained' shtick has long since worn thin - even among his own supporters.
Johnson's government has long been a fan of using a so called "dead cat" to divert attention from present political rows, but on Monday we had the spectacle of the prime minister using a dead paedophile, Jimmy Savile, to distract from the Downing Street party furore.
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Heading into PMQs, expectations for sensible discourse were therefore at an all time low and Johnson's response to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer's call to restore dignity to the debate did little to lift the mood.
Johnson ignored the pleas of Savile's victims to retract allegations that Sir Keir failed to prosecute the sex offender while serving as director of public prosecutions and instead repeated the debunked slur.
But as the jousting moved from parties to the pandemic, Johnson's famed vim and vigour returned in abundance.
The prime minister, unlike in weeks past, looked to be enjoying himself - branding Sir Keir and his shadow chancellor 'Dick Dastardly and Muttley', to cheers and laughter from the Tory benches.
Despite reports of more letters of no confidence heading into the chairman of the 1922 committee, there were no fresh David Davis moments in the chamber.
Number 10 will be breathing a sigh of relief after today's performance and response from the Tory faithful. The prime minister fights on.
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