It was perhaps inevitable that Nigel Farage would get into a row with one or two (or actually all) of the other panelists on BBC Question Time on Thursday evening. And he did. But the Ukip leader also had a rather hostile exchange with a member of the audience.
"Nigel, just let me finish please," one man began his question, perhaps expecting Farage to try and jump in. "I'm old enough to have read about McCarthyism and I'm old enough to have read the Rivers of Blood speech."
"I'm also aware of what happens in elections where a climate of fear is caused amongst the electorate by the charismatic, the bombastic and, to me, the very dangerous," he said. "This has driven Europe to war in the past."
He added to applause: "I have no time for you sir, none."
The majority of the evening's programme was taken up with the question of the European Union in honour of Farage's rare appearance on the show (sarcasm, see chart). He replied: "You are very lucky feller. Because there are four parties on this platform you can vote for. Four parties which believe we should not govern our own country, that we should surrender our democracy."
And Farage said it was the EU itself that was stimulating nationalist movements, not parties like Ukip. "The EU dream is failing and crumbling we thank goodness did not join the eurozone," he said.
"What's happening is the very nationalisms and intolerance and extremism the EU was supposed to stop, it's creating because of the disastrous failure that is called the eurozone."
Last night's edition of Question Time also ended on a dignified note, including the use of the phrase "pig ignorant", some mockery and a bit of jeering.