Alan Partridge
Alan Gordon Partridge is a British comedy character portrayed by Steve Coogan. A parody of British television personalities, Partridge is a tactless and inept broadcaster with ignorant views and an inflated ego. Since his debut in 1991, he has appeared in radio and television series, books, podcasts and a feature film.
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. In 1992, Partridge hosted a spin-off spoof chat show, Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge. On the Hour transferred to television as The Day Today in 1994, followed by Knowing Me, Knowing You later that year. In 1997, the BBC broadcast I'm Alan Partridge, a sitcom written by Coogan, Iannucci and Peter Baynham about Partridge's life in a roadside hotel working for a Norwich radio station. It earned two BAFTAs and was followed by a second series in 2002.
After a hiatus, Partridge returned in 2010 with a series of shorts, Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge, written with Rob and Neil Gibbons, who, with Coogan, have co-written every Partridge project since. Over the following years, Partridge expanded into other media, including the spoof memoir I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan and the feature film Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. In 2019, Partridge returned to the BBC with This Time with Alan Partridge, a spoof of magazine shows such as The One Show. This was followed by an Audible podcast in 2020, a touring show in 2022, and a spoof documentary series, How Are You? It's Alan , in 2025.
Coogan said Partridge began as a "one-note" character, but slowly became more complex and empathetic. While the writers use Partridge to satirise bigotry and privilege, they also aim to create empathy. Critics have praised 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". In a 2001 poll by Channel 4, Partridge was voted seventh in their list of the 100 greatest TV characters. Partridge is credited with influencing cringe comedies such as The Inbetweeners, Nighty Night and Peep Show.
History
1991: ''On The Hour''
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. Developing On the Hour, the producer, Armando Iannucci, asked Steve Coogan to voice a generic sports reporter with elements of Elton Welsby, Jim Rosenthal and John Motson. Coogan had performed a similar character for a BBC college radio station while at university. Iannucci said they developed a backstory for the character "within minutes". The name was inspired by the former Newsbeat presenter Frank Partridge. Iannucci, Patrick Marber, Richard Herring and Stewart Lee wrote much of the early Partridge material; Herring credits the creation to Coogan and Iannucci.1992–1995: ''Knowing Me, Knowing You'' and ''The Day Today''
Marber felt Partridge had potential for other projects, and encouraged Coogan to develop his character. Coogan performed as Partridge and other characters at the 1992 Edinburgh Fringe. That December, BBC Radio 4 began broadcasting a six-episode spoof chat show, Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge. The series saw Partridge irritate and offend his guests, and coined his catchphrase, "Aha!".In 1994, On the Hour transferred to television on BBC Two as The Day Today, in which Partridge reprised his role as sports reporter. Later that year, Knowing Me, Knowing You transferred to television. The series ends with Partridge accidentally shooting a guest. It was nominated for the 1995 BAFTA for Light Entertainment Performance. A Christmas special, Knowing Me, Knowing Yule, followed in December 1995, in which Partridge attacks a BBC commissioning editor, ending his television career.
1997–2002: ''I'm Alan Partridge''
In 1997, BBC Two broadcast a sitcom, I'm Alan Partridge, written by Coogan, Iannucci and Peter Baynham. It follows Partridge after he has been left by his wife and dropped from the BBC. He lives in a roadside hotel outside Norwich, presents a graveyard slot on local radio, and desperately pitches ideas for new television shows. Iannucci described the series as "a kind of social X-ray of male middle-aged Middle England". I'm Alan Partridge won the 1998 BAFTA awards for Comedy Performance and Comedy Programme or Series.In 1999, Partridge appeared on the BBC telethon Comic Relief, performing a medley of Kate Bush songs. BBC Two broadcast a second series of I'm Alan Partridge in 2002, following Partridge's life in a static home with his new Ukrainian girlfriend, Sonia after recovering from a mental breakdown. 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.
2003–2009: Hiatus and smaller roles
After I'm Alan Partridge, Coogan limited Partridge to smaller roles, feeling he had become an "albatross". In March 2003, the BBC broadcast a mockumentary, Anglian Lives: Alan Partridge, about Partridge's life and career. Coogan performed as Partridge at the Royal Albert Hall in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust in 2004. In 2008, he performed a tour, Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge and other Less Successful Characters, featuring Partridge as a life coach.Coogan returned to Partridge after pursuing other projects, such as his work with the director Michael Winterbottom on films such as 24 Hour Party People ''.'' He said he did not want to end the character, and that "as long as I can do my other things, that, to me, is the perfect balance". In 2020, Coogan said that though he had once tired of Partridge, he had now become "a battered, comfortable old leather jacket".
2010: ''Mid Morning Matters''
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 a new character, Sidekick Simon. The series was later broadcast by Sky Atlantic. Coogan wrote it with the brothers Neil and Rob Gibbons, who submitted scripts to his company Baby Cow Productions. The Gibbons brothers have co-written every Partridge project since. According to Neil, "Our sensibilities chimed... I think we were like two pairs of fresh eyes, and Steve seemed to fall in love with the character all over again."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." In his 2015 autobiography, Coogan wrote that he felt Mid Morning Matters was "the purest, most mature and funniest incarnation of Partridge", which he credited to the Gibbons brothers.
2011–2012: ''I, Partridge'' and TV specials
In 2011, a spoof autobiography, I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan, written by Coogan, Iannucci and the Gibbons brothers, was published by HarperCollins. Coogan also recorded an audiobook version as Partridge. In the book, Partridge recounts his childhood and career, attempts to settle scores with people he feels have wronged him, and dispenses wisdom such as his assertion that Wikipedia has made university education "all but pointless". Coogan appeared as Partridge to promote I, Partridge on The Jonathan Ross Show and BBC Radio 5 Live. It received positive reviews and became a bestseller.On 25 June 2012, Partridge presented a one-hour Sky Atlantic special, Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life, taking the viewer on a tour of Partridge's home county, Norfolk. It earned Coogan the 2013 BAFTA for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme. The following week, Sky Atlantic broadcast Open Books with Martin Bryce, a mock literary programme discussing Partridge's autobiography.
2013: ''Alpha Papa''
On 7 August 2013, a feature film, Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, was released in the UK. It was directed by Declan Lowney and co-produced by StudioCanal and Baby Cow Productions, with support from BBC Films and the BFI Film Fund. The film sees Partridge enlisted as a crisis negotiator during a siege at his radio station.Filming began with an incomplete script, and Coogan and the Gibbons brothers rewrote much of it on the set. The rushed production was difficult; Coogan and Iannucci disagreed on the script, morale was low, and there were problems with casting and funding. In his memoir, Coogan wrote that it was the hardest he had ever worked and the loneliest he had ever felt; however, he was proud of the finished film. Alpha Papa received positive reviews and opened at number one at the box office in the UK and Ireland.
2015–2019: ''Scissored Isle'' and ''This Time''
In 2015, Coogan co-presented a special Christmas episode of the Channel 4 chat show TFI Friday as Partridge. In February 2016, Sky Atlantic broadcast a second series of Mid Morning Matters. Alan Partridge's Scissored Isle, a mockumentary in which Partridge examines the British class divide, followed in May also starring Ben Rufus Green. A second book, Alan Partridge: Nomad, a travelogue in which Partridge recounts a journey across the UK, was published on 20 October.In July 2017, Partridge appeared in an episode of the BBC Radio 4 programme Inheritance Tracks, in which guests choose music to pass to future generations; he selected "Who Put the Bomp " by Barry Mann and the theme from Grandstand. Iannucci guest-edited an October 2017 issue of The Big Issue, featuring a debate on Brexit between Partridge and Malcolm Tucker, a character from The Thick of It, another sitcom created by Iannucci. On 27 December, BBC Two broadcast a documentary about the history of Partridge, Alan Partridge: Why, When, Where, How and Whom?
Partridge returned to the BBC in February 2019 with a six-part series, This Time with Alan Partridge, a spoof current affairs programme in the style of The One Show. Coogan felt it was the right time for Partridge to return as he might represent the views of Brexit voters. Neil Gibbons said the world of live television had changed since Partridge's creation: "If someone fluffed a line or got someone's name wrong or said something stupid, it was mortifying. But nowadays, those are the sort of people who are given jobs on TV." A second series was broadcast in 2021, ending with Partridge having a breakdown on air and locked out of the BBC building.
In August 2019, after he was caught speeding, Coogan escaped a driving ban after arguing that a planned Alan Partridge series could not be filmed on public transport, as driving is part of Partridge's character. The magistrates determined that it would cause “exceptional hardship" on the production staff if the series were cancelled.