TV review: Newsnight: The 9/11 Decade

Kirsty Wark presents a special edition of the current affairs programme from New York, marking the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre.

Mark Urban examines the impact of the American response to the incidents, while political and cultural figures discuss how the world has changed over the past decade.

The guests will also look to the future and give their verdict on whether the death of Osama bin Laden in May has gone some way to thwarting al-Qaeda for good and reduced the odds of anything on the scale of 9/11 happening again.

It’s a typically insightful and thought-provoking instalment of a programme that remains crucial viewing for anybody with more than a passing interest in world events.

Newsnight is an institution - not least because it’s the show that has politicians quaking in their shoes.

Because Newsnight equals Jeremy Paxman. The frontman who came up through the ranks via Eton and Cambridge has gained a chew-’em-up-and-spit-’em-out reputation over the years. But is it really warranted?

“I’m not rude to the people I talk to, I’m merely persistent,” said Paxman in one BAFTA acceptance speech.

“Occasionally, I may have to press a point - and, of course, that’ll be the one interview everybody remembers.

“But I genuinely believe that it’s the job of people like me - who are lucky enough to have the chance to quiz politicians - to ask the sort of question that ordinary people would like to ask.”

While the show is at its best when the presenters are eviscerating squirming politicians, these one-off specials are not to be missed.

But while Paxman may be the face of the programme, Mark Urban seems responsible for some of the most intriguing reports. He certainly knows his stuff, having covered diplomatic and defence matters for more than 20 years at the BBC.