The contest in HD

"Nothing gets you closer" is the tag line Sky News has chosen to launch its HD service - in time for the Prime Ministerial debates. And how the three candidates look on screen will be a real challenge for the make-up artists.

It's well-known that the extra lines offered by HD can reveal extra lines on even the serenest face. All the key "talent" at Sky have been given fresh screen tests, with frank (and sometimes uncomfortable) reviews afterwards, plus suggestions for where extra "coverage" from the powder puff might be necessary. It's an issue for Gordon Brown, who tends towards the embalmed look after make-up (cf his series of tv interviews by a window yesterday). David Cameron starts off pretty smooth, and extra 5 and 9 helps him look likes his posters - which may or may not be a good thing. Few people recognise Nick Clegg, so he's less of an issue. The big HD problem - if make-up have to be liberal with the face paint, the neck often needs work, and in an hour-long debate, the cognoscenti will be looking for orange edges to the collars of the compulsory white shirts.