Due to the peculiarities of the parliamentary calendar, it was the first PMQs for three weeks which - given that Gordon Brown had been widely seen to have been drubbed by David Cameron in most recent encounters - had at least given the prime minister some breathing space and a chance to brush up on his technique.

In the meantime, of course, there had been last week's bitter despatch box encounter between the two during the Queen's speech debate. So it was with some anticipation that MPs gathered in the Commons for the rematch.

When he was on the backfoot against Cameron in the summer, Brown used two successful distraction techniques. The first was the use of a planted question from a Labour backbencher in order to allow him to make a significant policy announcement or soundbite (as he did with supercasinos, 24-hour drinking and cannabis reclassification).

The second was to make a big set-piece statement straight after PMQs (as he did with the draft Queen's speech, constitutional reform and anti-terror laws). It was therefore perhaps a sign of his current troubles in the chamber that he wheeled out both this week.

Afterwards he was due to give a statement on security and beforehand David Marshall was primed to ask one of the softest questions in Commons history. Would he like to congratulate Glasgow on winning the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Marshall wondered, and "does the prime minister agree" he enquired, that the event will help regenerate the city.

Unsurprisingly, Brown obliged and - only as the subject had been raised of course - he used the opportunity to wheel out his "British decade of sport" slogan.

But after that, the subjects were out of his control, although Cameron's decision to highlight the latest Home Office immigration row was probably predictable. Although the home secretary had given a detailed statement on the subject less than 24 hours earlier, the Conservative leader felt there were still some unanswered questions.

"Why wasn't the public told" four months ago that illegal immigrants had been allowed to work in key security jobs, he wanted to know. "Because the home secretary acted immediately," Brown replied. "Instead of just talking, she acted," he added in a strong vote of confidence in Jacqui Smith, sat alongside him.

"I didn't ask about what the government did," Cameron came back, but "why the public wasn't told". Leaked emails had shown the government had been "caught red-handed putting spin ahead of public safety," he claimed.

But Brown was sticking to his line. "It is what we did that matters," he argued, adding that he was "sorry" the Tories were not interested in that.

However Cameron had done his homework. In May Brown had said he would be "frank about problems and candid about dilemmas" as prime minister, not much in evidence here. Then he got to the crux of the matter. "When" did Smith tell him about the problem, he asked.

To endless Conservative chants of "when, when", Brown insisted that was an "operational" matter which he was not going to discuss.

"Why won't he answer the simplest of questions?" Cameron said, before taking the tone of a patronising parent. "If he didn't know, that is serious, but it's not the end of the world."

But, unlike last week, Brown kept his cool amid the mockery and continued Tory heckling. "It was the Home Office who were responsible and they took action," he maintained.

"Doesn't he want to know about major security issues?" Cameron wondered, contrasting the promised "openess and honesty" with the current "spin".

Having just about held his own, Brown had his own pre-prepared pay-off. "We did out duty," he said. "Not press releases, but action."

After that Vince Cable was always going to be a bit low-key, but the acting Liberal Democrat leader has won rave reviews in recent weeks, prompting some to suggest he should have stood for the job full-time.

And he landed another blow on Brown, this time with a pair of questions on protecting the public's interest in Northern Rock. The government had leant "£24bn of taxpayer's money to this small mortgage bank," he pointed out, demanding publication of the details of the deal.

Brown said this would breach "commercial confidentiality", Cable hit back that the excuse was "absolutely bogus". The money should be "paid back in full, with interest, within the lifetime of this parliament". Pertinent, to-the-point and PR-friendly, Cable's PMQs performances will leave Nick Clegg or Chris Huhne a lot to live up to.

There was then time left for some of Parliament's more colourful characters to make an appearance. Stephen Pound attacked Conservative fundraiser Lord Ashcroft, Peter Luff attacked Labour peer Lord Malloch Brown and Dennis Skinner attacked the whole "Notting Hill mob".

Yet amid this knockabout, John Hemming made a sensitive and telling point about children in care, most likely to be adopted in England but returned to their parents in Scotland. Brown took him seriously, providing a most unexpected end to a particularly partisan PMQs.

The verdict

Brown: 7/10 - Kept his cool despite provocation

Cameron: 7/10 - Out-debated Brown but couldn't land killer blow

Cable: 8/10 - The best leader the Lib Dems never had?