I'm Alan Partridge is a British sitcom created by Steve Coogan, Peter Baynham and Armando Iannucci. Coogan stars as Alan Partridge, a tactless and inept broadcaster who has been left by his wife and dropped by the BBC.
| I'm Alan Partridge | |
|---|---|
 Title screen from series 1 (1997), depicting Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge wearing his trademark green blazer | |
| Genre | Sitcom Cringe comedy |
| Created by | Peter Baynham Steve Coogan Armando Iannucci |
| Starring | Steve Coogan Felicity Montagu Simon Greenall Phil Cornwell Barbara Durkin Sally Phillips Amelia Bullmore James Lance |
| Voices of | Andrew Burt (Radio Norwich announcer) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 12 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Peter Fincham |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 29 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Two |
| Release | 3 November 1997 – 16 December 2002 |
| Related | |
Two series of six episodes each were broadcast five years apart. Series 1 was released in late 1997, while a second series followed in 2002,[1] with Partridge now living in a static caravan after recovering from an off-screen mental breakdown.[2][3] Iannucci said the writers used the sitcom as "a kind of social X-ray of male middle-aged Middle England".[1]
Supporting Coogan in the cast are Felicity Montagu as his faithful but timid personal assistant, Lynn Benfield; Simon Greenall as Geordie handyman Michael; and Phil Cornwell as Partridge's rival DJ Dave Clifton. Series 2 also featured Amelia Bullmore as Partridge's Ukrainian girlfriend Sonja. The show received critical acclaim and was a success amongst audiences, being nominated for three BAFTAs (winning two), two British Comedy Awards (winning both), and a Royal Television Society award. In a list drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted by industry professionals, I'm Alan Partridge was named the 38th-best British television series of all time.
Premise edit
Alan Partridge was created by Steve Coogan and the producer Armando Iannucci for the 1991 BBC Radio 4 comedy programme On the Hour, a spoof of British current affairs broadcasting, as the show's sports presenter.[4] In 1992, Partridge hosted a spin-off Radio 4 spoof chat show, Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge.[5] On the Hour transferred to television as The Day Today in 1994,[4] followed by Knowing Me, Knowing You later that year.[6] The series ends with Partridge accidentally shooting a guest.[5]
I'm Alan Partridge follows Partridge after he has been left by his wife and dropped from the BBC. In the first series, he lives in a roadside hotel, presents a graveyard slot on local Norwich radio, and desperately pitches ideas for new television shows.[4] In the second series (2002),[4] Partridge lives in a static caravan with his new Ukrainian girlfriend after recovering from a mental breakdown.[7][8] By then he has moved to the late night "Norfolk Nights" slot and also hosts "Skirmish", a military-based general knowledge quiz show on digital cable channel UK Conquest, which Partridge says has "the largest audience share for a digital channel at that time of day in the Norfolk area".[9] The writers found the second series difficult to make, feeling it had been too long since the first and that expectations for sitcoms had changed.[10] Iannucci said the writers used I'm Alan Partridge as "a kind of social X-ray of male middle-aged Middle England".[4]
Episodes edit
Series 1 (1997) edit
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "A Room with an Alan" | Dominic Brigstocke[12] | Peter Baynham, Steve Coogan & Armando Iannucci[12] | 3 November 1997 | |
|
Alan's wife Carol has kicked him out and he is living at the Linton Travel Tavern, a hotel near the A11 in Cambridgeshire. He tells the hotel's manager Susan that his wife is living with a fitness instructor and that insulting graffiti has been sprayed on his car. He encounters handyman Michael, whom he asks to remove the graffiti, but has difficulty understanding Michael due to his strong Geordie accent. Alan has lunch at BBC Television Centre with Tony Hayers (David Schneider), the programme commissioner of the BBC, about the possibility of a second series of Knowing Me, Knowing You. Hayers informs Alan that he will not get a second series, and then dismisses a number of other increasingly desperate pitches that Alan makes for new shows. Alan returns to his hotel room, turns on "Jet" by Wings and gives himself a black eye while making a poor attempt at an athletic leap from his bed to the mini-bar.[11] | |||||
| 2 | "Alan Attraction" | Dominic Brigstocke[14] | Peter Baynham, Steve Coogan & Armando Iannucci[14] | 10 November 1997 | |
|
Without a second series of his programme, Alan is nearing bankruptcy and chooses to fire the entire staff at his company, Peartree Productions, rather than downsize his beloved car. However, when the staff ask him if he has a second series, Alan panics, and tells them that he has been successful. While the staff prepare a party, and Jill, his flirtatious, chain-smoking, 50-year-old, divorced receptionist (Julia Deakin) goes out to buy some snacks, Alan tries to extricate himself by firing staff members for various "offences," such as leaving an unwashed coffee cup on the table and rolling eyes. Whilst he locks himself in his boardroom, the staff leave. Jill returns, wondering where everyone has got to (he tells her they have gone to a spice museum) and the two go on a date to a nearby owl sanctuary, where Alan's attempts at conversation bewilder Jill. In the evening, the two attend a Valentine's Day dinner at the Travel Tavern and later go to his room. Jill's attempt at eroticism with chocolate mousse angers Alan, so he ends his liaison with her. Later that night on his radio show, he announces on-air that he has sacked her.[13] | |||||
| 3 | "Watership Alan" | Dominic Brigstocke[16] | Peter Baynham, Steve Coogan & Armando Iannucci[16] | 17 November 1997 | |
|
After making various unsympathetic and ill-advised comments about farming on his radio show, Alan becomes an object of hatred for local farmers. On his radio show, Alan interviews the leader of the local Farmers' Union (Chris Morris), but instead of apologising, his series of increasingly ludicrous claims (you feed beef burgers to swans) enrages local farmers even further. Meanwhile, Alan has been hired to shoot an advertisement for a small-boating holiday company. On the day of the video-shoot, he attempts to blend in with the hard-drinking crew. During the shoot, he is crushed by a dead cow thrown from a bridge by disgruntled local farmers. Alan returns from hospital with a neck brace and broken fingers, and asks Susan to 'make pornography come on my television', after previously asking for such channels to be disconnected after the staff found out that he had watched "Bangkok Chickboys".[15] | |||||
| 4 | "Basic Alan" | Dominic Brigstocke[18] | Peter Baynham, Steve Coogan & Armando Iannucci[18] | 24 November 1997 | |
| There are major refurbishments taking place at the Linton Travel Tavern, during which the hotel is closed, leaving Alan as the only guest. Throughout the episode, he is desperately bored and does various things to pass the time, including dismantling a trouser press, walking along a busy dual carriageway to a petrol station to buy several bottles of windscreen washer fluid, driving round the ring road three times, buying some tungsten-tipped screws he never intends to use and dressing up as a zombie as a practical joke. His boredom culminates with an attempt to steal a traffic cone, with Michael and Lynn.[17] | |||||
| 5 | "To Kill a Mocking Alan" | Dominic Brigstocke[20] | Peter Baynham, Steve Coogan & Armando Iannucci[20] | 1 December 1997 | |
|
Alan hosts "An Afternoon with Alan Partridge" at the hotel which is attended by his self-confessed "biggest fan", Jed Maxwell (Ian Sharrock). He is also visited by Irish network executives (Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews) who are considering giving him a show on Irish television. They are unimpressed by Alan (particularly regarding his ignorant take on Ireland, the Troubles, and his misunderstanding of the U2 song "Sunday Bloody Sunday"), though they get along very well with Lynn. Through a series of mishaps, the three of them end up at Jed's house. Having no home of his own, Alan pretends he cohabits with Jed. After Alan and the Irishmen discover that Jed's fandom is of a highly obsessive nature, with one of his rooms acting as shrine to the presenter, the two executives make their excuses and leave, leaving Alan and Jed alone. Alan becomes increasingly worried about his own safety and, following an altercation with Jed, he makes a hasty escape, fleeing across nearby fields.[19] | |||||
| 6 | "Towering Alan" | Dominic Brigstocke[22] | Peter Baynham, Steve Coogan & Armando Iannucci[22] | 8 December 1997 | |
|
After an afternoon hosting a small village fayre and judging the vegetable competition, Alan is delighted to discover that Tony Hayers has died and that his successor is Chris Feather, a supporter of Alan’s works. Attending Hayers' funeral as he knows Chris will be there, he attempts to secure his sought-after second series. However, Feather later suffers a fatal heart attack just before Alan's new contract is signed. Later, Alan and Lynn host a farewell party in his hotel room, where manager Susan finally lashes out at Alan, in retaliation for his behaviour throughout his protracted occupancy. The guests all leave as a result. The series ends as Alan and Lynn tidy up to the theme from The Adventures of Black Beauty, with Alan feeling pleased with himself.[21] | |||||
Series 2 (2002) edit
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | "The Talented Mr Alan" | Armando Iannucci[24] | Armando Iannucci, Steve Coogan & Peter Baynham[24] | 11 November 2002 | |
|
While visiting Michael at the petrol station, Alan has a chance meeting with his old teacher Frank Raphael (Andrew Burt, who also provided the voice-overs for the various Radio Norwich jingles in both series). Alan convinces Raphael to let him give a talk to the sixth formers at the school where Raphael is now headmaster. Whilst at the school, Alan bumps into an old schoolmate who is now a teacher (Ian Puleston-Davies). They try to reminisce over old times, but Alan still holds a grudge against him for drawing a penis on the back of his school blazer in chalk, which Alan was caned for. In his talk, Alan ends up insulting Raphael for caning him when he was younger and also insults his schoolmate for "getting the lab assistant pregnant, and never [seeing] the kid." All of this results in Alan receiving a stern talking-to in the headmaster's office. Towards the end of the episode, the teacher comes into the petrol station; Alan, thinking he has come to fight, tries to threaten him with a hot apple pie. The schoolmate apologizes to Alan and hopes that they can be friends again, but as the schoolmate leaves the petrol station a customer tells him that he has got something on his back: Alan got Lynn to draw a chalk penis on his back.[23] | |||||
| 8 | "The Colour of Alan" | Armando Iannucci[24] | Armando Iannucci, Steve Coogan & Peter Baynham[24] | 18 November 2002 | |
|
Michael comes to stay for a few days after his front door is stolen; Alan is asked to present a sales conference for "Dante's of Reading," a company that supplies coal-effect fires and fireplaces. Dante's Piet Morant (Steve Brody), a South African, visits Alan's partially built house. After his frequent pranks with the security staff at his country club backfire and the police are called, Alan is forced to bring Piet to his partially built house. Lynn and Michael improvise some makeshift furniture in the empty house: they balance a toilet door on a Black & Decker Workmate for a table and attach several torches to a bicycle wheel for lighting. Alan is awarded the job, but after being denied entry to the country club, he attempts to climb over the fence and impales his foot on a metal spike. He refuses to seek medical treatment and attempts to present the sales conference.[25] | |||||
| 9 | "Brave Alan" | Armando Iannucci[27] | Armando Iannucci, Steve Coogan & Peter Baynham[27] | 25 November 2002 | |
|
Alan makes a new friend at the BP garage, Dan (Stephen Mangan). They both like the same beer, use the same deodorant, and drive the same car. Dan owns a kitchen store, and arranges for Alan to present the Colman's Mustard Bravery Awards. Alan's attempts to impress Karen Colman are unsuccessful, but she strikes up an instant rapport with Sonja, later inviting her back to her house without Alan. On hearing that the Colmans' family motto is "Too much mustard gets up your nose," Alan tries to impress her by eating a large spoonful of mustard. Later, at Dan's home, Alan finds out that Dan and his wife enjoy a deviant spicy lifestyle; to his great discomfort, they show him a tape of them having intercourse.[26] | |||||
| 10 | "Never Say Alan Again" | Armando Iannucci[29] | Armando Iannucci, Steve Coogan & Peter Baynham[29] | 2 December 2002 | |
|
Alan plans to watch all the James Bond films in sequential order for the bank holiday weekend with Michael. Lynn reveals to Alan that she has a new friend, Gordon, an ex-policeman who threatens Alan for mistreating Lynn. The Bond weekend goes wrong when Lynn accidentally destroys his Bond movies after spilling Sunny Delight over them. Alan then discovers that Michael has another friend, Tex (Peter Serafinowicz). He becomes jealous and falls out with Michael, un-inviting him to the Bond-athon. After making up with Michael, Alan discovers that Tex has taped over the one undamaged Bond film with an episode of "America's Strongest Man." Because of this, he declares himself "Norfolk's Maddest Man" and decides to give the group a physical run-through of the entire opening sequence of The Spy Who Loved Me.[28] | |||||
| 11 | "I Know What Alan Did Last Summer" | Armando Iannucci[31] | Armando Iannucci, Steve Coogan & Peter Baynham[31] | 9 December 2002 | |
|
The Inland Revenue are due to call and carry out a random investigation on Alan's business affairs, causing him to worry. The Inland Revenue people arrive earlier than the set time, catching Alan dancing in his caravan to Gary Numan's "Music for Chameleons". Panicking, Alan behaves extremely suspiciously. After an argument with Sonja, Alan attempts to make up with her by claiming to be a friend of Bono's and taking her to his house (really Blickling Hall). Sonja does not fall for the deception. He then grudgingly consents to take her to London, although during the end credits, it is revealed that he has delegated that responsibility to Lynn.[30] | |||||
| 12 | "Alan Wide Shut" | Armando Iannucci[33] | Armando Iannucci, Steve Coogan & Peter Baynham[33] | 16 December 2002 | |
|
The building work on Alan's house is finally complete and Sonja wants to move in. Alan, however, has other ideas. He is interviewed on a radio show called Prayer Wave, where his insensitive comments result in one of the guests (Julia Davis) walking out. After this, he attends Lynn's baptism at her church where he simulates blowing his head off with a shotgun and assaults one of the guests (Rob Brydon) who questions Alan's anecdote-writing ability. Meanwhile, with "The Windmills of Your Mind" playing on the soundtrack, the remaining 14,000 unsold copies of Alan's book, "Bouncing Back," are pulped. Alan takes some away with him in a plastic bag as mementos.[32] | |||||
Reception edit
I'm Alan Partridge won the 1998 BAFTA awards for Comedy Performance and Comedy Programme or Series.[34] Digital Spy wrote: "the character of Partridge hit his comic peak" in I'm Alan Partridge.[35] Entertainment Weekly described the show as "bleakly hilarious".[36] The Telegraph named I'm Alan Partridge as one of the 10 best TV sitcoms of all time.[37] In a poll of British comedians conducted by the TV channel Gold, it was named as the second-best British sitcom of all time.[38] In a 2017 poll of over 100 comedians, a scene from I'm Alan Partridge in which Partridge goes to the home of an obsessive fan was voted best comedy scene.[39]
Awards and nominations edit
| Year | Award | Category | Recipient | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Comedy (Programme or Series) | Armando Iannucci, Dominic Brigstocke, Peter Baynham, Steve Coogan | Won |
| Best Comedy Performance | Steve Coogan | Won | ||
| British Comedy Awards | Best TV Comedy Actor | Steve Coogan | Won | |
| Best TV Sitcom | I'm Alan Partridge | Won | ||
| Royal Television Society Awards | Best Situation Comedy or Comedy Drama | Talkback Productions | Nominated | |
| 2003 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Comedy Performance | Steve Coogan | Nominated |
| British Comedy Awards | Best TV Comedy | I'm Alan Partridge | Nominated | |
| Best TV Comedy Actor | Steve Coogan | Won | ||
| Best TV Comedy Actress | Felicity Montagu | Nominated | ||
| Royal Television Society Awards | Best Comedy Performance | Steve Coogan | Nominated |
References edit
- ^ a b Husband, Stuart (5 August 2013). "Alan Partridge: the 'A-ha!' moments". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
- ^ Keeling, Robert (7 August 2013). "Alan Partridge's top TV moments". Den of Geek. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
- ^ Heritage, Stuart (4 April 2014). "Alan Partridge: a guide for Americans, newcomers and American newcomers". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
- ^ a b c d e Husband, Stuart (5 August 2013). "Alan Partridge: the 'A-ha!' moments". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
- ^ a b "BBC - Alan Partridge - Anglian Lives". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
- ^ Thompson, Ben (4 September 1994). "Comedy / Knowing him, knowing us, ah-haah: Alan Partridge, smarmy master of the crass interview, is bringing his chat show to television. Ben Thompson meets the gauche celeb's comic creator, Steve Coogan". The Independent. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
- ^ Keeling, Robert (7 August 2013). "Alan Partridge's top TV moments". Den of Geek. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
- ^ Heritage, Stuart (4 April 2014). "Alan Partridge: a guide for Americans, newcomers and American newcomers". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
- ^ "Brave Alan" episode
- ^ Wray, Daniel Dylan (9 October 2020). "Aha! – The Oral History of Alan Partridge". Vice. Retrieved 9 October 2020.
- ^ "I'm Alan Partridge - Episode 1.1". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ a b "BBC Two - I'm Alan Partridge". BBC. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ "I'm Alan Partridge - Episode 1.2". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ a b "BBC Two - I'm Alan Partridge". BBC. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ "I'm Alan Partridge - Episode 1.3". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ a b "BBC Two - I'm Alan Partridge". BBC. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ "I'm Alan Partridge - Episode 1.4". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ a b "BBC Two - I'm Alan Partridge". BBC. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ "I'm Alan Partridge - Episode 1.5". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ a b "BBC Two - I'm Alan Partridge". BBC. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ "I'm Alan Partridge - Episode 1.6". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ a b "BBC Two - I'm Alan Partridge". BBC. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ "I'm Alan Partridge - Episode 2.1". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ a b c d "BBC Two - I'm Alan Partridge". BBC. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ "I'm Alan Partridge - Episode 2.2". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ "I'm Alan Partridge - Episode 2.3". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ a b "BBC Two - I'm Alan Partridge". BBC. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ "I'm Alan Partridge - Episode 2.4". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ a b "BBC Two - I'm Alan Partridge". BBC. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ "I'm Alan Partridge - Episode 2.5". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ a b "BBC Two - I'm Alan Partridge". BBC. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ "I'm Alan Partridge - Episode 2.6". British Comedy Guide. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^ a b "BBC Two - I'm Alan Partridge". BBC. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
- ^ "BAFTA Awards Search | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
- ^ Jeffery, Morgan (13 October 2012). "'I'm Alan Partridge': Tube Talk Gold". Digital Spy. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ Endelman, Michael (27 October 2006). "I'm Alan Partridge: Season 1 | EW.com". EW.com. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ "The 10 best TV sitcoms of all time". 10 November 2015.
- ^ "Fawlty Towers named favourite British sitcom | Gold".
- ^ "Fawlty Towers named best British sitcom". BBC News. 4 January 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
