''I'm Alan Partridge'' is a British

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

created by

Steve Coogan Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English-Irish actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer. His accolades include four BAFTA Awards and three British Comedy Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Aw ...

, Peter Baynham and

Armando Iannucci Armando Giovanni Iannucci (; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish satirist, writer, director, producer and performer. Born in Glasgow to Italian parents, Iannucci studied at the University of Glasgow followed by the University of Oxford. St ...

. Coogan stars as Alan Partridge, a tactless and inept broadcaster. The first series, broadcast in 1997, has Partridge living in a roadside hotel after having been left by his wife and dropped by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. The second, broadcast in 2002, sees Partridge living in a static caravan after recovering from a mental breakdown. Iannucci said the writers used the sitcom as "a kind of social X-ray of male middle-aged Middle England". The supporting cast includes Felicity Montagu as his faithful but timid

personal assistant A personal assistant, also referred to as personal aide (PA) or personal secretary (PS), is a job title describing a person who assists a specific person with their daily business or personal task. It is a subspecialty of secretarial duties ...

, 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

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award. In a list drawn up by the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

in 2000, voted by industry professionals, ''I'm Alan Partridge'' was named the 38th-best British television series of all time.

Premise

Alan Partridge was created by

and the producer

for the 1991

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

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 1994, followed by '' Knowing Me, Knowing You'' later that year. The series ends with Partridge accidentally shooting a guest. ''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 A graveyard slot (or death slot) is a time period in which a television audience is very small compared to other times of the day, and therefore broadcast programming is considered far less important. Graveyard slots are usually situated in the ea ...

on local

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

radio, and desperately pitches ideas for new television shows. In the second series (2002), Partridge lives in a static caravan with his new Ukrainian girlfriend ( Amelia Bullmore) after recovering from a mental breakdown. 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". 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. Iannucci said the writers used ''I'm Alan Partridge'' as "a kind of social X-ray of male middle-aged Middle England".

Episodes

Series 1 (1997)

Series 2 (2002)

Reception

''I'm Alan Partridge'' won the 1998 BAFTA awards for Comedy Performance and Comedy Programme or Series.

Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...

wrote: "the character of Partridge hit his comic peak" in ''I'm Alan Partridge''. ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'' described the show as "bleakly hilarious". ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'' named ''I'm Alan Partridge'' as one of the 10 best TV sitcoms of all time. In a poll of British comedians conducted by the TV channel

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

, it was named as the second-best British sitcom of all time. 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.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * *
Unofficial Linton Travel Tavern website

Filming locations from ''I'm Alan Partridge''
{{BAFTA TV Award for Best Comedy (Programme or Series) 1981–1999 1997 British television series debuts 2002 British television series endings 1990s British multi-camera sitcoms 2000s British multi-camera sitcoms BBC television sitcoms British English-language television shows Television series about radio Television series about television Television series by Fremantle (company) Television shows set in Cambridgeshire Television shows set in Norfolk British workplace comedy television series