There is really definitely no ageism at the BBC, honest

I didn't watch Children In Need this year, but I was on Twitter while it was on, and was struck by the following tweet from Caitlin Moran (aka @caitlinmoran, who you really should be following if you're on Twitter, as she is very funny.) (You must like very funny or why would you be here?) (Don't answer that.)

"Does Fearne Cotton SEE that she, too, will be culled as a presenter when she hits 37? DOES SHE THINK SHE WILL ESCAPE THE FATE OF ROSLIN?"

It is notable, at a time when the BBC are quick to refute all accusations of ageism (see the cases of Moira Stewart, Arlene Philips, Miriam O'Reilly etc) that Terry Wogan is permitted to carry on presenting Children in Need as he gets older and older, but the blondes standing next to him mysteriously stay the same age.

The first Children in Need broadcast was in 1980. Terry Wogan (then 42) hosted with Sue Lawley (then 34) and Esther Rantzen (then 40). Two years later, Sue Cook, (then 33) took on co-hosting duties for the next thirteen years, leaving at the age of 46. Gaby Roslin took over in 1994 when she was 30, and continued as the co-host until 2004 (age 40). In 2005, Natasha Kaplinsky (33) took over, just for a couple of years. Then in 2007, Fearne Cotton (then 25) joined the hosting team. There was a blip in the downwards age trajectory in 2008 when Tess Daly joined them both, at the ripe old age of 39. But then, she is a lingerie model on the side, so not exactly greying and turning to fat. Terry Wogan, in case you've lost track, is still the main anchor. He turned 72 this year.

Is it possible to imagine a reality in which Sue Lawley or Esther Rantzen had remained the host of Children in Need for the last thirty years, joined by a succession of young, sexy men?

While we're on the subject, can you picture a Strictly Come Dancing hosted by a grey-haired 82-year-old woman with Vernon Kay as her sidekick? In fact, can you imagine any mainstream TV programme being hosted by an 82-year-old woman with grey hair? Or any woman at all with grey hair?

A spokesperson in the case brought by Miriam O'Reilly (sacked as Countryfile presenter age 52, alongside three other woman presenters in their 40s) described the idea that the BBC was ageist as "absolute nonsense".

Hmmm.