BIFF! Bang! Pow! Three leaders limped away from the TV studio after a bruising encounter with a pumped-up Leeds audience and their toughest tests of the campaign.

Ouch, those were some aggressive questions – wounding David Cameron for his record on poverty, Ed Miliband for Labour’s failures on the economy and Nick Clegg for his student fees broken promise

Of course it would have been better to have had a proper debate….but I don’t think it would have put the politicians in a sharper spotlight.

First up, Mr Cameron got it in the neck for his refusal to say where most of £12bn of welfare cuts will fall and to rule out cutting child benefit – something he again pointedly failed to do.

“Either you are deceiving the British public, or you know exactly what you are going to do. How do I possibly vote for you on that basis?” one woman demanded.

Then there fierce challenges on the exploding numbers of food banks and the bedroom tax. “People have died from the bedroom tax,” the prime minister was told.

Mr Cameron was a bit sweaty and red-faced, and the fringe flopped down his forehead…but he kept his composure impressively.

It wasn’t any easier for Mr Miliband, pounded repeatedly over the same weakness: “How can we trust the Labour party with the UK economy?”

The infamous “There’s no money left” note is the millstone. One woman protested: “You’re about to put Ed Balls back in as Chancellor – and he called that note a joke.”

Asked if Labour overspent, Mr Miliband replied: “No, I don’t”. There were ooohs, aaahs and groans. “That’s absolutely ludicrous – frankly that’s just lying,” said one man.

So what did we learn? That, love or loathe them, our party leaders are cool under fire. Mr Miliband’s only stumble came as he walked off – he almost fell the stage, which would have been disaster.

What we also saw was why we are heading for a hung parliament. Those weaknesses (poverty for the Tories, the economic crash for Labour) are too damaging for either to overcome.

Third, there was Mr Miliband’s key moment; ruling out any sort of deal, even ‘confidence-and-supply’, with the SNP – the new issue hurting Labour on the doorstep.

There is no wriggle room. “If the price of having Labour Government is a deal, or a Coalition, with the Scottish Nationalist Party, then it’s not going to happen,” he said.

Now it’s official. It’s minority Government or bust for Labour, while Mr Cameron hinted at policies being “bartered away in a darkened room,” if he falls short.

Last, we learned that politicians going toe-to-toe with well-informed voters is both illuminating and entertaining.

It’s a shame the rest of the campaign hasn’t been like that.