Paper Paxman dubbed 'dreary' is a real lifeline

the bath [and] cruises somewhere in the company of other "virtual corpses”.

The former Newsnight presenter added that “mature” meant “on the verge of incontinence, idiocy and peevish valetudinarianism” (someone overly concerned with their health).

Well, let me add to the attack. Mr Paxman is very lucky indeed that he does not need to look at ads for all of the above gadgets - yet. Perhaps when he’s a bit older and becomes more infirm he will appreciate the information that these ads offer to the magazine’s readers who do actually need them or who may be reaching the point where they have to start using them.

And Mr Paxman probably finds the magazine’s content “dreary” because he is not like other pensioners. His career has not been a conventional one, because as a nationally known journalist he has worked in a highly charged and fast-moving news arena interviewing  high profile politicians and other public figures on television.

He started his career in local radio, BBC Radio Brighton, in fact, and has worked at the BBC since 1972, building up his reputation for his somewhat abrasive questioning of politicians in his 25 years on Newsnight.

I like Jeremy Paxman - he could be classed as one of our national treasures - but it is fair to say that he is no ordinary pensioner living an ordinary life. Wealthier than most - television presenting earns a fair whack - he continues to present the BBC’s University Challenge and works elsewhere in the media.

He therefore continues to be in the public eye, albeit to a more muted extent than when he was a national fixture on Newsnight. His words are still given a voice in the national media, hence the number of column inches devoted to his written rant about the Mature Times in the Financial Times.

And unlike many pensioners, especially much older people, his job would have required him to have mastered the internet, giving him superior access to information that others do not, such as information about the kind of equipment for the infirm that he sneers at. 

And it is all the more unbecoming for him to be so dismissive of helpful devices when you consider that he himself suffers from depression, which could be classed as a different kind of infirmity.  Would he sneer at ads offering people help with depression in the same way? Yet it is a condition that affects one in five older people living in the community and two in five of those in care homes, for reasons such as stopping work, having less money, health problems and the death of a partner or friends, leading to loneliness.

These are very profound reasons for experiencing depression as you get older, and for people who are lonely and have health problems a publication such as Mature Times, with its ads for stairlifts and other devices, and chatty articles about the things their generation are interested in, can be a lifeline. If an older person lives on their own and can’t get out of their home due to health problems, depression may well descend.  

But if they can access a device that can give them mobility and gets them out of the house to visit people, take part in social activities or even just get to the local shops and have a conversation with someone, they will not feel so down and it may stave off depression. 

Jeremy Paxman is used to the high stimulation of living a life of controversy and confrontation, and the resulting conflicts, and so may not appreciate the gentler kind of reading the Mature Times offers anyone over 50, its target audience which indeed includes Mr Paxman.

But ordinary people are not used to such high stimulation and he of all people, as a journalist, should be aware that there are specialist publications for just about everything, including the typical older person. The Mature Times attracts 600,000 readers each month, quite a lot of people for Mr Paxman to sneer at.

Well, was it worth the wait? Poldark, I mean. Fans - and there are plenty of us - have been waiting with bated breath for months for this second series and now we can breathe easily. 

It only took the BBC 20 minutes into Sunday’s first episode before we saw Ross (Aidan Turner) shirtless and covered in sweat as he toiled in a rage down his mine. 

As we hoped and expected, there was drama in every scene, accompanied by the most stunning shots of the Cornish landscape and skies.

For me, I’m afraid Poldark knocks its rival ITV drama Victoria into a cocked hat. Come hell or high water, I’ll be glued for the whole series. And yes, for something this good, I’d have waited even longer.