On Monday night Q&A accidentally did Australia a favour: if you were wondering what the next one, two, maybe three years of debate over same-sex marriage might be like ahead of Tony Abbott's proposed public vote, here was your answer.

It will be tortured. It will be tedious. It will be tiresome and sometimes hurtful and offensive as the tin-foil hat brigade is ushered back to centre stage to shower us with their fever dreams of the terrible things to come if we take a chance on love. It will be no fun at all. Or to put it another way: see that door? Slam your head in it half a dozen times and lie down till it's over.

Couldn't believe what he was hearing: Richard Di Natale. Credit:ABC

"We're going to have to draw a line under this at some point," said host Tony Jones as the marriage equality section of the debate nudged the 29-minute mark, having absorbed about half the show and much of the mental energy of viewers and panelists alike. Greens leader Richard Di Natale is a cool customer but every now and then his eyes let you know he couldn't quite believe what he was hearing.

Two months back, Q&A hosted a one-off gay-themed edition with a guest host and a panel of local guests that was genuinely enriched by the presence of the Reverend Fred Nile; you can't tell the story of DIckens' A Christmas Carol without the Ghost of Christmas Past.