Comment: Grumpy, Happy and snow white Boris

One candidate had the passion, the charisma and the jokes. One had the style. The third at times appeared an angry old man whose references to Margaret Thatcher marked him from a bygone era.

Ken Livingstone put it bluntly from the off. If you don't think I've done a good job, don't re-elect me, he challenged Londoners. It's a dangerous gamble. He has done a decent job. But London is a young, optimistic city - and many voters will be looking to the future.

Dressed in grey, he looked tired and every one of his 62 years. He became very angry very quickly; the grumpy old uncle made to join the fun. But do not underestimate Ken - his appearance is testimony to his formidable campaigning over decades.

Boris Johnson, the Tory candidate, is perfect for TV. Quick-witted and with that endearing white mop of hair, he is compulsive viewing. He had the best jokes. Uncle Ken said Boris should stick to the quiz shows. "I think he would be a disastrous Mayor," he claimed. Boris countered: "I think you are already a disastrous Mayor!" That won laughs from the studio audience.

There were questions about Boris's friendship with fraudsters Darius Guppy and Conrad Black and his comments about black Africans. He deflected them successfully, his humour only deserting him when asked why he was running for Mayor "when he had never shown any particular interest in London before".

He had the best soundbite. "It breaks my heart to see so many kids growing up scared, and so many adults scared of kids," he said.

Lib-Dem rival Brian Paddick looked and sounded the part. He relied on notes but was polished.

He ably deflected questioning of his "softly, softly" approach to cannabis possession while Lambeth borough commander.

He boasted about not being a career politician yet appeared as slick as the best. If TV debating is less about what you say and more about how you say it, Mr Paddick will have impressed many.

Ken showed how rattled he was by referring to "Boris" four times in the minute he was given to sum up why voters should choose him. Earlier there had been a verbal punch-up when Ken, wounded by Boris's sharp journalistic probing, resorted to shouting to drown out his rival.

Much remains to play for - and from this initial skirmish, it's going to be a hell of a battle. But we may just have seen the first signs of the end of the Livingstone era.