Alan Partridge

For the Brookside character, see Alan Partridge (Brookside). For the 2013 film, see Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa.

Alan Partridge
First appearance Radio: On the Hour
Television: The Day Today
Created by Steve Coogan
Armando Iannucci
Portrayed by Steve Coogan
Information
Gender Male
Occupation Radio and television presenter
Spouse(s) Carol (divorced)
Significant other(s) Sonja (separated)
Angela Ashbourne (separated)
Children Fernando Partridge
Denise Partridge
Relatives Dorothy Partridge (mother)
John Partridge (grandfather)
Harry Partridge (uncle)

Alan Gordon Partridge is a fictional character portrayed by English actor and comedian Steve Coogan. A parody of British television personalities, Partridge is a tactless and inept television and radio presenter who often insults his guests and whose inflated sense of celebrity drives him to treachery and shameless self-promotion. Coogan described Partridge as a Little Englander, with right-wing values and poor taste.

Partridge was created by Coogan and 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. In 1992, Partridge hosted a spin-off Radio 4 spoof chat show, Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge. On the Hour transferred to television as The Day Today in 1993, and Knowing Me, Knowing You in 1994.

Coogan starred as Partridge in a two-series BBC sitcom, I'm Alan Partridge, in 1997 and 2002, which earned two BAFTAs. After a hiatus of almost a decade, the character returned in 2010 with a series of shorts, Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge. It was followed in 2011 by bestselling spoof autobiography, I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan, and in 2013 a successful feature-length film, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. In 2016, a second series of Mid Morning Matters was broadcast.

Critics have praised Alan Partridge's complexity, realism and pathos. Vanity Fair called him a British "national treasure" and the Guardian described him as "one of the greatest and most beloved comic creations of the last few decades". According to Den of Geek, Partridge has so influenced British culture that "Partridgisms" have become part of everyday vernacular.

History

Coogan in 2013

Creation, Knowing Me, Knowing You and move to television

Alan Partridge was created for the 1991 BBC Radio 4 comedy programme On The Hour, a spoof of British current affairs broadcasting, as the show's hapless sports presenter, portrayed by Steve Coogan.[1] The show's writers Armando Iannucci, Patrick Marber, Richard Herring and Stewart Lee wrote much of Partridge's original material, although Herring credits the creation to Coogan and Iannucci.[2] Iannucci asked Coogan to do a voice for a generic sports reporter; according to Iannucci, "Someone said, 'He’s an Alan!' and someone else said, 'He’s a Partridge!' Within minutes we knew where he lived, we'd worked out his back story, what his aspirations were."[3] Coogan said Partridge was originally a "one-note, sketchy character"[4] and "freak show", but became "more and more refined as sort of a dysfunctional alter ego" over the years.[5] He had performed a similar character for a BBC college radio station at university.[1]

Following On the Hour, Partridge presented six episodes of a spoof Radio 4 chat show, Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge, first broadcast on 1 December 1992. The series saw Partridge annoy and offend his guests, and coined the character's catchphrase, "Aha!"[6] In 1993, On the Hour transferred to television as The Day Today, in which Partridge reprised his role as sports reporter.[1] In 1994, Knowing Me, Knowing You transferred to television;[7] the series ends with Partridge accidentally shooting a guest and attacking a BBC commissioning editor, ending his television career.[6] It was nominated for the 1995 BAFTA for Light Entertainment Performance.[8] A Christmas special, Knowing Me, Knowing Yule, was broadcast in December 1995.[9]

I'm Alan Partridge and other appearances

In 1997, Coogan starred in a sitcom, I'm Alan Partridge, written by Coogan, Iannucci and Peter Baynham. The sitcom follows Partridge after he has been left by his wife and dropped from the BBC; he lives in a roadside hotel, presents a graveyard slot on local radio, and desperately pitches ideas for new television shows. Iannucci said the writers used the sitcom as "a kind of social X-ray of male middle-aged Middle England."[1] It won the 1998 BAFTA awards for Comedy Performance and Comedy Programme or Series.[8]

In 1999, Partridge appeared on the BBC telethon Children in Need, performing a medley of Kate Bush songs.[10] The BBC broadcast a second series of I'm Alan Partridge in 2002,[1] following Partridge's life in a static caravan with his new Ukrainian girlfriend after recovering from a mental breakdown.[11][12] In March 2003, the BBC broadcast a mockumentary, Anglian Lives: Alan Partridge, about Partridge's life and career.[6] In 2008, Coogan performed a tour titled "Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge and other Less Successful Characters", featuring Partridge as a life coach.[13]

Mid Morning Matters, autobiography and feature film

After a hiatus, Partridge returned in 2010 in a series of YouTube shorts, Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge, as the host of a digital radio show with co-presenter Sidekick Simon (Tim Key).[14] Coogan co-wrote the shorts with brothers Neil and Rob Gibbons, who submitted scripts to his company Baby Cow Productions. According to Neil, Coogan "invited us in, our sensibilities chimed, and before we knew it, Mid Morning Matters was up and running. We wrote it as if it was our baby, and though there was a sense that we were standing on the shoulders of giants, I think we were like two pairs of fresh eyes, and Steve seemed to fall in love with the character all over again."[1] Coogan said they chose the web format because "it was a bit underground, a low-key environment in which to test the character out again. And the response was so good, we realised there was more fuel in the tank."[1] The shorts were later broadcast by Sky Atlantic.[1]

Coogan in character as Alan Partridge at a book-signing event in 2011

In 2011, a spoof autobiography, I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan, written by Coogan, Iannucci and the Gibbons brothers, was published in the UK. An audiobook version recorded by Coogan as Partridge was released on CD and downloadable audio formats. In October, Coogan appeared as Partridge to promote the book on The Jonathan Ross Show[15] and BBC Radio 5 Live.[16] It received positive reviews[17] and became a bestseller.[1] A second autobiography is due in 2016.[17]

On 25 June 2012, Partridge presented a one-hour Sky special, Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life, taking the viewer on a tour of Partridge's home county Norfolk,[18] for which Coogan won the 2013 BAFTA for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme.[8] It was followed the next week by Open Books with Martin Bryce, a mock literary programme discussing Partridge's autobiography.[18]

On 7 August 2013, a feature film, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, written by Coogan, Iannucci, Baynham and the Gibbons brothers, was released in the UK. It was directed by Declan Lowney[19] and co-produced by StudioCanal and Baby Cow Productions, with support from BBC Films and the BFI Film Fund.[20] The film sees Partridge enlisted as a crisis negotiator during a siege at his radio station.[18] It received positive reviews[21] and opened at number one at the box office in the United Kingdom and Ireland.[22]

On 18 December 2015, Coogan co-presented a special Christmas episode of the Channel 4 chat show TFI Friday as Partridge.[23] In February 2016, Sky Atlantic broadcast a second series of Mid Morning Matters, in which Partridge continues his relationship with divorcee Angela, introduced in Alpha Papa.[24]

Character

Alan Partridge is an incompetent and tactless television and radio presenter.[7][25] He is socially inept, often offending his guests,[26] and has an inflated sense of importance and celebrity.[11] According to the Telegraph, he is "utterly convinced of his own superiority, and bewildered by the world's inability to recognise it – qualities that placed him in the line of comedy lineage that runs directly from Hancock, Captain Mainwaring, and Basil Fawlty."[1] His need for public attention drives him to deceit, treachery and shameless self-promotion,[25] and sometimes violence; in the Knowing Me, Knowing Yule Christmas special, for example, he assaults a BBC boss and a paralysed former golfer.[9]

Alan Partridge lives in Norwich, Norfolk. Iannucci said the writers chose it as Partridge's hometown as it is "geographically just that little bit annoyingly too far from London, and has this weird kind of isolated feel that seemed right for Alan."[1]

Partridge holds right-wing views; Coogan described him as a Little Englander, with a "myopic, slightly philistine mentality".[27] Earlier versions of the character were more bigoted, but the writers later found there was more humour in having him attempt to be liberal. Coogan said: "He's aware of political correctness but he's playing catch-up. In the same way that the Daily Mail is a bit PC – it wouldn't be openly homophobic now – Alan is the same. He tries to be modern."[27]

According to Forbes, Partridge has "parochial bad taste",[28] and Coogan described him as "on the wrong side of cool".[5] He is a fan of the Daily Mail newspaper, James Bond films and Lexus cars.[29] His music taste includes Wings[29] and Abba, naming his son Fernando and his talk show Knowing Me, Knowing You after Abba songs; Partridge's catchphrase, "Aha!", also comes from Abba.[12] In earlier incarnations, Partridge's wardrobe includes a blazer, badge and tie, driving gloves, and "too-short" shorts, styles he describes as "sports casual" and "imperial leisure".[30] According to Iannucci, by the time of Alpha Papa his wardrobe had "evolved to the Top Gear Presenter Circa 2005 stage", with sports jackets and a "borderline-foppish" fringe.[1] As Coogan aged, the ageing make-up he wore in earlier performances became unnecessary.[1]

Guardian critic Alexis Petridis wrote that "one of the reasons audiences find [Partridge] funny is that they recognise at least a bit of themselves in him."[31] Baynham told the Guardian that "despite the fact that people say he's awful, a lot of the time we were trying to build empathy: you're watching a man suffer but also at some level identifying with his pain."[32] Felicity Montagu, who plays Partridge's assistant Lynn, felt he was a good person "deep down" and actually "vulnerable and lovable".[27] Iannucci said that Partridge stays optimistic because he never sees himself as others see him,[26] and that despite his failings was "the perfect broadcaster for these times, when there are 24 hours to fill and dead time is a crime – he has a unique capacity to fill any vacuum with his own verbal vacuum."[1] Rob and Neil Gibbons felt that by the time of Mid Morning Matters, when Partridge is working for an even smaller radio station, he was more at peace wth himself and that his lack of self-awareness saved him from misery.[32]

Reception and influence

Vanity Fair described Alan Partridge as "a national treasure ... a part of British comedy heritage as John Cleese’s Basil Fawlty and Rowan Atkinson’s Mr. Bean."[33] According to Variety, in Britain "Alan Partridge is a full-on phenomenon, a multiplatform fictional celebrity whose catchphrases, mangled metaphors and social ineptitude are the stuff of legend and good ratings."[34] The character is less well known outside the UK, but according to Anchorman director Adam McKay “every American comic knows who Steve is, whether it’s Stiller or Ferrell or Jack Black or me ... and everyone watching those [Partridge] DVDs had the same reaction. How did I not know about this guy?”[33] Indiewire wrote that "few Americans may know, but Partridge is a something of a comic icon across the pond ... Before there was Ron Burgundy for the Yanks, there was Alan Partridge for the Brits."[35]

In 2008, Brian Logan wrote in the Guardian that though Partridge was created as a satire of the "asinine fluency of broadcaster-speak" of the time, his study of character traits gave the character a timeless quality.[36] In 2012, Guardian writer John Crace wrote: "By rights, Alan Partridge should have been dead as a character years ago, the last drops of humour long since wrung out ... but Steve Coogan keeps finding ways to make him feel fresh."[37] Reviewing Alpha Papa in 2013, the Independent wrote that Partridge is a "disarming creation" and that despite his flaws "we always root for him."[38]

In 2014, Guardian writer Stuart Heritage described Partridge as "one of the greatest and most beloved comic creations of the last few decades."[12] In 2015, the entertainment news site Mandatory said he was "a fascinatingly layered and fully realized creation of years of storytelling and a fundamentally contemptible prick — he feels like a living, breathing person, but a living, breathing person that you want to strangle."[25] The Telegraph credited Partridge with influencing "awkward" sitcoms such as The Inbetweeners, Nighty Night and Peep Show, and wrote: "Never has one actor so completely inhabited a sitcom character. We believe Partridge is real, from his side-parted hair down to his tasseled sports-casual loafers."[39]

According to Den of Geek, Alan Partridge has so influenced British culture that "Partridgisms" have become part of everyday vernacular.[11] "Monkey Tennis", one of Partridge's television proposals, has become shorthand for absurd television concepts.[40][41][42] Another proposal, "Youth Hostelling with Chris Eubank", was used by the hostel booking site Hostelworld as the basis of a 2015 television advert with boxer Chris Eubank.[43] "Accidental Partridge", an unofficial Twitter account which collects quotes reminiscent of Partridge's speech from real media figures, had attracted 144,000 followers by May 2014.[44] In July 2015, an art exhibition inspired by the character opened in Norwich.[45]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Husband, Stuart (5 August 2013). "Alan Partridge: the 'A-ha!' moments". The Telegraph. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  2. ↑ Connelly, Brendon (4 January 2013). "Richard Herring On Co-Creating Alan Partridge, His Rasputin TV Show And Dave's New Comedy Competition - Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors". Bleedingcool.com. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  3. ↑ Huddleston, Tom (2013-08-01). "Armando Iannucci interview - Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa - Time Out Film". Time Out. Retrieved 2014-02-17.
  4. ↑ de Semlyen, Nick. "Steve Coogan Talks Alan Partridge | interviews | empireonline.com". Empire. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  5. 1 2 Coyle, Jake (4 May 2014). "Steve Coogan On 23 Years Of Alan Partridge". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 "BBC - Alan Partridge - Anglian Lives". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  7. 1 2 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.
  8. 1 2 3 "BAFTA Awards Search | BAFTA Awards". awards.bafta.org. Retrieved 2015-11-11.
  9. 1 2 Rees, Jasper (30 December 1995). "reviews: TELEVISION Knowing Me Knowing Yule... with Alan Partridge (BBC2) It's not easy being incompetent - Alan Partridge is to chat-show interviewing what Rudolf Nureyev was to spot welding. But maybe it's time to get real.". The Independent. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  10. ↑ "Alan Partridge's 10 Most Alan Partridge-y Moments Ever | NME.COM". NME.COM. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  11. 1 2 3 Keeling, Robert (7 August 2013). "Alan Partridge's top TV moments". Den of Geek. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  12. 1 2 3 Heritage, Stuart (4 April 2014). "Alan Partridge: a guide for Americans, newcomers and American newcomers". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  13. ↑ Masterton, Simon (6 October 2008). "Reviews roundup: Steve Coogan". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  14. ↑ Aroesti, Rachel (2014-03-15). "Tim Key: from living-room poetry jams to comedy ubiquity". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  15. ↑ Millar, Paul (2 October 2011). "Steve Coogan appears as Alan Partridge on 'Jonathan Ross' - video". Digital Spy. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  16. ↑ "Alan Partridge on how he killed a restaurant critic - BBC News". BBC News. Retrieved 2015-12-03.
  17. 1 2 "Alan Partridge 'writes' second autobiography". BBC News. 16 April 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  18. 1 2 3 Seale, Jack (25 June 2012). "Meet the men who made Alan Partridge funnier than ever". Radio Times. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  19. ↑ de Semlyen, Phil (30 April 2012). "Armando Iannucci On Alan Partridge Movie". Empire. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  20. ↑ "'The Alan Partridge Movie' receives August 2013 release date". NME. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  21. ↑ "BBC News - Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa tops the UK box office". BBC News. 12 August 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  22. ↑ Patrick, Seb (13 August 2013). "'Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa' is the 'Top Daddy' of the UK Box Office | Anglophenia". BBC America. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  23. ↑ "Alan Partridge to host TFI Friday Christmas special with Chris Evans". Evening Standard. Retrieved 2015-12-01.
  24. ↑ Gibbings-Jones, Mark; Catterall, Ali; Harrison, Phil; Wright, Jonathan; Mueller, Andrew; Arnold, Ben; Virtue, Graeme; Howlett, Paul (2016-02-16). "Tuesday’s best TV: It’s Not Rocket Science; Back in Time for the Weekend; Happy Valley; Alan Partridge’s Mid Morning Matters". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-02-18.
  25. 1 2 3 Currie, Tom (7 May 2014). "Characters We Love To Hate, ALAN PARTRIDGE". Mandatory. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  26. 1 2 "Alan Partridge's top 10 hits - in video". The Guardian. 27 July 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  27. 1 2 3 Barkham, Patrick (1 August 2013). "Steve Coogan: 'There is an overlap between me and Alan Partridge'". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  28. ↑ Leaf, Jonathan (25 April 2014). "Review: Steve Coogan Takes Flight In 'Alan Partridge'". Forbes. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  29. 1 2 "Alan Partridge Quotes | I'm Alan Partridge | Gold". Gold UK. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  30. ↑ Reynolds, Simon (24 June 2013). "The Alan Partridge Style Guide | Driving gloves, tie and blazer badge combo - Esquire". Esquire. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  31. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (5 August 2013). "Alan Partridge's music taste: surprisingly great". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  32. 1 2 Virtue, Graeme (27 July 2013). "Alan Partridge: a look inside his mind". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  33. 1 2 Kamp, David (March 2012). "Comedian Steve Coogan Goes from Cult to Classic". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  34. ↑ Felperin, Leslie (24 July 2013). "Film Review: 'Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa'". Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  35. ↑ Drumm, Diana (28 March 2014). "Review: Why 'Alan Partridge' Isn’t Just For Steve Coogan Fans". Indiewire. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  36. ↑ Logan, Brian (6 October 2008). "Has Alan Partridge passed his sell-by date?". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  37. ↑ Crace, John (March 28, 2014). "TV review: Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life; Veep; Walking and Talking". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  38. ↑ Macnab, Geoffrey (8 August 2013). "Film review: Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (15)". The Independent. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  39. ↑ "The 10 best TV sitcoms of all time". The Independent. 24 February 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  40. ↑ Fleckney, Paul (29 May 2015). "Quiz: Monkey Tennis, Britain's Hardest Grafters … which are real TV shows?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  41. ↑ Plunkett, John (24 March 2005). "Is there a place for Monkey Tennis?". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  42. ↑ Gill, AA (14 February 2010). "Sir Christopher Meyer makes his move for more telly work". The Sunday Times.
  43. ↑ "Youth Hostelling With Chris Eubank: Alan Partridge's TV dream comes true". The Guardian. 20 August 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  44. ↑ Hooton, Christopher (29 May 2014). "Accidental Partridge: TalkSport's Sam Matterface drops textbook Alan-ism on-air". The Independent. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  45. ↑ "Alan Partridge inspires city art exhibition - BBC News". BBC News. 31 July 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.

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