BBC Question Time has come under fire, with fans dubbing this week's instalment the "dullest" episode ever. Returning on Thursday night (8 October), the series saw host Fiona Bruce travelling to Peterlee in County Durham, where she was joined by Justice Minister Jake Richards, Tory MP Harriet Cross, Lib Dem MP Max Wilkinson, and journalists Kevin Maguire and Annabel Denham.
Migrant crisis row erupts
During the programme, the panel addressed the ongoing migrant crisis, with Maguire clashing with an audience member and later, fellow panellist Denham. After an audience member argued that UK citizens are only bothered by migrants who enter the country but "don't want to work," Maguire fired back.
"We don't let them work! That's it. You can't accuse them of not working when we don't let them work," he fumed.
Disagreeing with Maguire's later comments that migrants weren't being given "everything for free," Denham clashed with the journalist, too.
"We are a soft touch country. You cannot say illegal migrants are faced with no choice, and are fleeing terror and persecution, yet in the same breath, suggest that they're being put up in grotty accommodation on only £10 a day. Which is it?" she asked.
Viewers hit out at 'weak panel'
Following the episode, viewers took to X, with several complaining about the "weak panel."
"Possibly the dullest #bbcqt I've ever seen. Where on earth is Peterlee? The back of beyond? It was like watching something from the 1970's. I was expecting [broadcaster] Robin Day to pop up at any moment," wrote one.
"#bbcqt that has to be the worst panel for as long as I remember," noted a second.
"Weak panel on #bbcqt this week. I am appalled to hear a Labour MP @JakeBenRichards support parenting orders; punishment that addresses problems that may be rooted in poverty, inequality and inadequate public services," tweeted a third.
Meanwhile, a fourth remarked, "How bloody tiring it was to have @Kevin_Maguire shout down absolutely everyone because that's the only way he can get his insane points across. What an absolute slog of an hour."
