Jeremy Dickson Paxman (born 11 May 1950) is an English journalist, broadcaster and author. He has worked for the BBC since 1977, and is known for his forthright and abrasive interviewing style, particularly when interrogating politicians. His regular appearances on the BBC2's Newsnight programme have been criticised as aggressive, intimidating and condescending, and also applauded as tough and incisive. He is also the question master of University Challenge, succeeding Bamber Gascoigne when the programme was revived in 1994. Paxman was born in Leeds. His mother, Joan McKay (née Dickson), born 1920, was a housewife, and his father, Arthur Keith Paxman, worked in industry. Paxman is the eldest of four children and has two brothers, one of whom, Giles, is the British Ambassador to Spain (having previously been ambassador to Mexico), and the other, James, is the chief executive of the Dartmoor Preservation Association, and a sister, Jenny, a producer at BBC Radio. He was brought up in Yor. …