Alan Partridge comes to BBC America

http://www.alan-partridge.co.uk/index2.php

The Day Today stuff is priceless. Conor Hamill etc.

[Aidan is pointing to a large, airbrushed picture of a scantily-clad woman lying next to a motorbike, above the mantlepiece.]

Alan: I don’t know why I bought this painting. It’s got a very haunting quality… man and machine. I mean, I often look at this in the morning and think, "Ooh, I’d like to kiss her!".

Why isn't Cutty on this thread?

TMI?

and yes a bit.

not on this thread because who wants to watch edited shows on BBC AMERICA, with commercials.

REGION FREE DVD PLAYER + AMAZON.CO.UK = YES

which side should the door be on?

(that's the title of the sitcom)

i bought the season 1 dvd before i went on the road. i can't actually watch it anymore. i think i have become too empathic to watch.

As for s1sk, that's where I originally found all the episodes.

Sorry, I'm kind of a stickler.

new partridge on friday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UmYOmTG3B0&feature=player_embedded

north norfolk digital lol

do even lager drinkers like fosters?

i'll drink it. it's no worse than carling or whatever.

lols at 1:30

it is the worst beer made in the world

there are some comments on that youtube covering this important issue. maybe take it there.

Anyone know exactly what this is, e.g. 10 minute 'shorts' or an actual series? This Sun article says "Highlights of his gut-bustingly funny musings and outrageous anecdotes are being packaged together for a brand new web series on fostersfunny.co.uk" - highlights?
Needless to say, I'm looking forward to this esp since Fosters aren't having anything to do with it (unlike Will Arnett/Orbit (or Wrigleys?) "content")

new material but just shorts

series 1 still miles better than series 2 i'd say, even iannucci doesn't rate it much, but this is still the best Partridge moment ever i think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9ytDCZS9oM

just ahead i'd say of the appaling sex scene in the dark in series 1.

Series 2 def had to grow on me a lot but to me now they're both as great as each other. Some flashes of utter genius in there, Sonia and space/judge/Bono/alien thing had me cracking up, the whole bit where he goes to Bono's house (my friend got married there; she didn't understand why it was Bono's house), Michael and the Bond movie marathon... lovely stuff.

bond movie marathon was on tonight

love that fireplace scene

My favourite bit from season 2 is in that bond episode when he douses the caravan in Sunny Delight, pretends to light a match then runs away. I get giggles just thinking about it. I think Sunny Delight must be the funniest drink.

there actually is "north norfolk radio" and for awhile their tagline was a super-defensive "...because WE live here TOO!"

i can believe it... i lived in norfolk for five years..

there actually is "north norfolk radio" and for awhile their tagline was a super-defensive "...because WE live here TOO!"
― progressive cuts (Tracer Hand), Monday, 1 November 2010 12:45 (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

"here" being Linton

alan meeting "tex" was one of my fav

^this was the bond marathon too, tex had taped over spy who loved me with americas strongest man prog

you put two and two together and made five, or as the american says "fahhhhhhhve"

Wayne's my man.
Wayne sleep?
get off your horse and drink your milk.
yes, Wayne sleep.

most absurd moment i remember was alan turning up at geordie blokes house, but geordie bloke wouldn't let him in and gave him a cup of beans and sausage. Then he said he could leave the empty cup on the doorstep.

haha and the fact that his shadow was still right by the door standing sideways

"You don't have a spoon?"
"I might have one in the bathroom."

^ debate as to whether this was a callback to phoner-inner Mary on the radio talking about what will we look like in the future: "look in the back of a spoon. In the bathroom".

there's that amazing monologue by the geordie guy too about him having the dream about killing people in a helicopter.

That bit is bloody ruddy fantastic.
First trailer/clip here: http://www.fostersfunny.co.uk/2010/11/exclusive-first-clip-of-mid-morning-matters-with-alan-partridge/

thought that helicopter bit was mugging for the recorded audience applause personally. one of the stand out bad moments in s2.

really? it does have that setpiece applause feel but it is v funny imo...

Michael: Aye, I come back this morning on a National Express coach. It was sort of like a SAS operation, you know. Uh, your mission: gan till Cardiff, have full sex with a woman, come back on the coach. Sort of like, er, Operation Bravo Two Zero.
Alan: I think in your case, Michael, it was Bravo Six Zero.
Alan: By, er, Randy McNab.
Michael: Randy McKnob.

^^^ now that's writing

A bit apprehensive about this, is Iannucci involved?

If nothing else there's always this to fall back on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrp0wJsXNEA

Yes Iannucci is involved.

"Give him another series you swine"
"Yeah give me another series you shit"

Quite enjoying the Coogan/Brydon thing on the beeb right now.

Yeah, it's bringing the gentle roffles chez us.

It's pretty good.

Not too laugh out loud but I enjoyed it. The impression-off was the best bit.

(prob misquoted this but just remembered the lols from the Tex episode)

"He calls his truck Convoy? Michael you're best friends with a man who uses a collective term to describe his vehicle"

deserves a youtube link prolly
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abmrAf0evgk

michael: pay attention bond, simply remove the top of this pen, and jab it in somebody's eye! smash it in with your hand like that uh uh uh
alan: that's not a gadget - that's just monstrous use of a biro

First trailer/clip here:

That's just the same trailer caek already posted two days ago. However! Iannucci just twooted:

Ok, here's the new Alan clip. Some wankaplegic in PR posted it on the Sun website, but here's You Tube link. http://youtu.be/JVWHaMbbzGs

nah there's a clip on the page NTRVP linked yesterday but you had to scroll down. same one as in that iannucci tweet.

bah, cut all this faffing and trailing imo. I lolled at his face in that loooooong pause in the clip tho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucrpgmJxx0E

i started watching the first season again and i think the hotel employees are my favorite part.

That was hilarious!

Shoot, not available outside UK

^^^:(

doing them a favour, since they sell fosters everywhere.

http://www.mediafire.com/?ob9t2rsd0472f13

THANK YOU, CAEK

"do you ever have dark thoughts?"

There are so many quotable lines I'm not going to bother. I enjoyed the first episode of The Trip, but this unequivocally proves who's boss. Partridge 4EVA.

pleased it's fifteen mins too. thought it was going to be ~5. there's not going to be much plot to speak of if they're stuck in the studio, but still.

Didn't think it was great apart from the condiment bit. Don't like the sidekick.

thanks for the upload, caek. 'it's like living with a bunch of banksys' haha.

so many quotable lines

"It was just a Japanese saloon car, me, and The Very Best of Deacon Blue". Argh, must... resist... quoting..

Good stuff though. The business with Alan on the bike was the only part I wasn't so keen on.

this was great, not perfect but plenty of good smart laughs. i thought the trip was bloody awful though. brydon and coogan just don't work well together. it always descends into a not particularly amusing set piece of coogan snapping at a faux-naif brydon hamming it up. after coogan's universally panned live show last year and his shitty appearance on CYE (interesting how there are very very few people who coogan can gel with in a comedic sense) i thought he'd completely lost it but i'm pleased how MMM has disproved that.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbiSJE6Dw_k

http://www.mediafire.com/?hv6swrnuoby2p13

^thanks CAEK :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wo0klNPrDk&feature=player_embedded

say what you like about billie piper but she is the most popular prostitute on itv

really enjoying the trip by the way. the last one was quite moving.

http://www.mediafire.com/?ubao6r8sox79kf8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dg9sYJaHQyc&feature=channel

I've just started "Knowing Me, Knowing You" and it's brilliant in a kind of objective way but I'm not sure I can handle it if it's all like the first episode :(

If I had a pound for every time I heard someone use an acronym that actually extended the syllable count...

kmkywap... sounds like a moist towelette...

to wipe your anal dirge prat...

inception......no.

inception......no.

inception.......no.

There have been three new episodes and I've only just noticed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ej_n70vknA0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RHlvjAwM5g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DO3cpw1dbo

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jun/02/steve-coogan-new-alan-partridge-series

Following the above:

Foster’s is looking to capitalise on the success of its recent Alan Partridge internet series by reuniting comedy legends Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer in a new online series to launch on 4 July this summer.

Famous for their madcap comedy stylings, Reeves and Mortimer are set to hit computer screens with a new series of original sketches that will air on weekdays from 4-29 July exclusively on the Foster’s comedy website www.fostersfunny.co.uk.

Each episode of the new series - entitled “Vic and Bob’s Afternoon Delights” – will see the comics introduce a group of never-seen-before characters to surprise their fans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5nyE7nvW2E&feature=player_embedded#!

anyone read/listened to the book?

yes listened it's great

listened to the first hour or so and yeah, really really good. I can't imagine reading the text alone would be anywhere near as good

halfway through and starting to think the audiobook format suits him more than anything. it is hilarious, i keep bursting out laughing in public when listening to this.

a friend of mine went to optimo espookio last night in full alan partridge peephole pringle and rubber thong get up!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOQIMOcEVc4

oh man your friend ftw

i wish i could post his facebook pic but it wouldn't be right. it's pretty disturbing.

The description of his fellow DJs at the music shop was something else.

I've listened to about half of the book (driving to the Grand Canyon from Vegas and back, was a good idea to bring it) and it's really great. It's like 7 hours of proper new material, really.
Best thing ever: after listening to a few hours of this, I open 'Infinite Jest' and read "my chest bumps like a dryer with shoes in it". XD

7 hours of proper new material that recounts the whole of kmkywap everything before and since with added perspective honesty delusion grandiloquence and needless-to-say-I-had-the-last-laugh-esque revisionism

It's incredibly impressive really

what

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNi0DljI-t0

does the book credit Ianucci, the new writers and Coogan equally (or at all, or whatever)? am itching for the audiobook to show up on CD-Wow so I can price compare with Book Depository

audiobook credits "by alan partridge with mark gibbons, neil gibbons, armando ianucci and steve coogan"

but he says the last names very fast.

cool, so must be mainly the new dudes - probably a v helpful factor in the apparent frequent focus on recasting old events in nu-Partridge's rosy spectacles

xpost

Ha. Was trying to find this on Audible, turns out they actually list it by author with "Alan Partridge"

iTunes doesn't have this yet, dammit. Seriously considerably signing up for Audible with one of them promo deals so's I can load the audiobook onto my phone.

They had a free trial offer thing going in the UK with Audible (UK). It's impossible to get in the US unless you order it on CD for like $25 + shipping :(
It's actually worth paying full price for but not when you want it IMMEDIATELY

If you do the promo deal thru podcasts, they usually have a free book offer. I only need a copy that I can load onto my phone, anyway.

fuck all geoblocking

new show http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/video/2012/jun/01/alan-partridge-norfolk-sky?newsfeed=true

i am not totally following this but is it not a little weird that this show's on sky, what with coogan's apoplexy re: the murdoch empire

incredibly weird, yep

the little-seen UK cable TV charity adverts for the Teenage Cancer Trust (from 2000?) are some of my fave ever Alan bits. not as laugh out loud hilarious as your Day Today stuff and whatnot but fantastic all the same. they were writen by Baynham and Coogan and all 5 of them are on You Tube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkHY1bVciIE

also harpercollins published that recent partridge autobiography, right around the time coogan was chucking it on newsnight xp

so it obviously isn't incredibly weird for steve coogan.

haha that clip was great

anyone know if they're releasing Mid-Morning Matters on dvd or anything?
awesome clip, cheers!

Some talk of MMM being expanded into a proper TV series.

back of the net, etc

"I want a hundred k or I'm taking it to Sky"

First episode was distinctly medium, I thought. Mid Morning Matters was way better.

holy shit the movie actually got made and there's a trailer out

http://www.avclub.com/articles/alan-partridge-alpha-papa,98989/

this is going to be excellent

It was good! Weird seeing Alan on the big screen with people laughing along. Also not looking much like 'Alan' as we have recently seen him - he was a bit too young/hip/confident and perhaps a bit of the subtlety that really cements AP as THAT character was lost. But I don't really mind that, it worked. I've been worried about a flash movie but it was basically like a feature-length ep, most of the mad/ridiculous stuff just kind of hung back a lot and let Alan be Alan.
I am too much of an AP stan to be able to tell how this will be received as a 'movie' by casual viewers.

Recently re-watched all of Mid Morning Matters and it's really a brilliant way to take Partridge forward. Kind of odd having that, small-scale, alongside a movie, I suppose, but it did work.

(not enough Michael, though)

At the premiere they put a shop-soiled Chocolate Orange and a Marillion greatest-hits CD on every one of the seats.

has anyone heard anything about any US screenings?

no release date yet for the u.s.

yeah i know, just meant press or whatever screenings eg in new york. i know there were a bunch of pre-release screenings of in the loop at the ifc center, although in that case they'd bought the film for us release so different i guess.

kinder, I also thought that alan looked too young in the trailer for this (haven't seen it yet). Have absolutely loved everything they've done with the character recently though: MMM, the 2 sky specials and the audiobook (which is probably my favourite piece of partridgiana now). Even more trepidatious after reading your impressions, but basically I will enjoy this whatever.

xp ah, sorry. yeah, i just want to see it, but i'm worried that it'll have to wait til streaming or whatever.

it only has a UK/ROI release afaia

oh wait you already said that

NZ too, so i guess we got skipped.

he was a bit too young/hip/confident and perhaps a bit of the subtlety that really cements AP as THAT character was lost.

I think it was v much in line with the wider development of alan

I dunno, I feel like he's kind of already been there and 'matured' into a slightly different type of character with a lot of 'older' hallmarks. Not particularly complaining, it was just a bit odd.

I liked it- not a disappointment at all! The best bits were all Michael related though, felt like he was underused.

You'd think with the care and attention given to the character and his personality that there would be a little more consistency with the character's appearance over time.

hello your post makes no sense

hellloooo please explain

you want him to wear the same outfit all the time or make the same facial expression nonstop?

Why would I want him to wear the same stuff when he didn't do that in the series, even?

What I am saying is that I don't expect to look much older than he was in Series 1/2 but I don't think he should actively appear younger than he was in Series 1 for example

http://www.vulture.com/2013/06/quiz-which-pharrell-is-older.html

xp discussed here http://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2013/aug/07/steve-coogan-alan-partridge-video-interview?INTCMP=SRCH

Loved this. Although a sparks song over the credits means I am contractually obliged to like a movie (cf boarding gate)

screening at NYFF in october

Magnolia has acquired it. Looking like early 2014.

rad

Finally getting around to the Mid Morning Matters stuff and after episode 7 I now have "It's me on me on Alan on Alan..." going through my head.

Didn't realise until I watched most of Mid Morning Matters back-to-back quite how tight the writing was.

In one episode Alan gets wound up by Sidekick Simon and tells him furiously "You're this to me", holding his thumb and forefinger slightly apart. Quite a bit later in the series he tells a grim little anecdote about his father saying precisely that to him when he was a kid. So good.

Yeah MMM is absolutely terrific, definitely one of the gems of the Partridge canon.

I'd probably rank it second only to the first series of IAP.

I could listen to Alan doing song links forever. Could have done with some more in the film actually

there's an app you can get that will make alan chat between the mp3s on your iTunes.

some lost Partridge footage

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWshspo_WNE&feature=youtu.be

looks like the movie was just added to netflix streaming.

"Placards with no official font..."

The sequence in the new MMM with Julian Barratt as a folk singer is hysterical.

Yeah, it was great. I'm not all the way through but the second series has seemed pretty great.

great great great

Just watched the last episode - indeed, great.

Did my annual switch-on to Now TV to watch this and GoT. Watched 2 eps, for some reason I lost my shit at "what part of 'multi-pack, not to be sold separately' don't they understand?" and was hyperventilating for about 15 minutes straight.
God it's good to have this back

Is it still on NowTV? Watched one last week and saw the series was about to leave and was bummed I'd only seen two so far.

All of them were on last night. Do I need to binge-watch them then?

finally saw a couple eps of I'm Alan Partidge, funny shit

(eg, the blackout tryst with the receptionist and choc mousse)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ5CdJwKNI8

the doormat PA is a treat

i liked SCISSORED ISLE a lot. it's coming to a streaming service here called seeso next month

(also uh i googled 'sesso' by mistake and whoops)

Nomad audiobook as good as the superb autobiography from a few years back.

"You have big sheds, but nobody's allowed in. And in these sheds you have 20ft high chickens, and these chickens are scared because the don't know why they're so big, and they're going, "Oh why am I so massive?" and they're looking down at all the little chickens and they think they're in an aeroplane because all the other chickens are so small. Do you deny that? No, I think his silence speaks volumes."

by chance i'm listening to this podcast right now. probably one for people with nothing better to do if i'm honest, but a lot of fun regardless.

alan partridge stuff is the only stuff i can watch more than once a year without getting bored. clearly it's having an effect on me as yesterday i had 'full sex with a woman' bouncing around my head for no reason.

btw coogan hinted recently that they're working on something new.

"We're doing some more Alan at the end of this year. He'll return to the small screen in a way that we're trying to devise at the moment," Coogan said. "We're not quite sure what that is, but we've got a few ideas that I'm going to keep up my sleeve at the moment. But there'll be more Alan, there'll be a regular appearance of Alan and some of the usual suspects."

There's already been 13 hours of new Partridge since Welcome To The Places Of My Life!

(none of it as good as Welcome To The Places Of My Life tbf, but all of it at bare minimum 23% as good)

mid morning matters never really gripped me (brilliant as it is), and alpha papa is its own beast. haven't got hold of nomad yet.

Nomad's good but the audiobook is not the masterpiece that I, Alan was - from listening, you get the feeling that whereas the first book was jammed by all four, put on the page by the Gibbonses, then revised with Ianucci and Coogan, this one was written entirely by the Gibbonses after a couple of chats with Coogan. Not that that makes the text bad! But Coogan often sounds like he's reading it for the first time, rather than delivering an incredible performance of material he knew well and was deeply involved with.

Hunt down Scissored Isle, the sequel in format to Places Of My Life. It's patchier, but has some splendid highs, and pulls off one of the most incredible revelations of a new facet of Alan's character.

cheers, the new facet was nice but it felt… forced. or something.

shame about nomad btw, i'll listen to it regardless obv (the i, partridge audiobook is staggeringly good)

yeah it is amazing! nomad is still funny but i didn't even get to the end. i, partridge i listened to like three times in a row.

coogan-related - the trip season 3 starts in a couple of weeks. can't wait!

spain!

I'd do an alan poll (including anglian lives, open books &c.) but i don't know whether people care enough

yeah i'm so excited for it being spain. i think s2 was one of my favourite tv shows ever. i love everything about it, the comedy, the whimsical or sentimental feel, the cinematography, and also seeing all these restaurants. i've travelled in spain p extensively so can't wait to see where they go.

Let battle commence (it's not literally a battle, it's a poll): it's the Alan Partridge poll

oh wow - yeah the trip is amazing, s2 maybe even better than s1

can't wait for the next one

cheers, the new facet was nice but it felt… forced. or something.

I was being spoiler-free in case you hadn’t seen, but the scene I was thinking of was when he does a shift on the supermarket checkout. A man so desperately defined by class-consciousness, aspiration and wilful delusion over status – but whose core desire for work is to talk to regular people – accidentally, and unwittingly, takes enormous satisfaction and pleasure in doing a “menial” role and chatting to people. He comes alive and takes properly-earned pride in doing a good job! He connects with his audience! It’s an amazing way of showing something that’s inherent in Alan, but has never been done before.

forgot all about that scene tbh (by 'facet' i thought you meant the wacky shit near the end). i see your point, it's certainly something new for alan to be connecting with a range of people rather than the three he usually bullies about the place. he did a similar thing in welcome, but back then he was hellbent on showing off his prowess at a market stall.

probably time i watched scissored isle again. there's probably heaps i didn't pick up on the first time round (as is usually the case).

The Trip to Spain, I had no idea, that is great news.

http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2017/06/09/36768/aha!_partridge_returns_to_the_bbc

Steve Coogan made the surprise announcement on tonight's episode of The One Show.

'Alan will be be back on the BBC early next year … there'll be a lot of Alan on telly early next year' he revealed.

http://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/alan-partridge-at-the-bbc-getting-in-touch-with-all-the-little-englanders-1-5132908

“For example, I’m doing an Alan Partridge series, that I have to write at the end of this year, to go out on BBC2 next spring. That’s going to be tough. It’s always difficult to make good comedy. You always have to work really hard at it. The standard of the comedy on Partridge is so high, that you have to match it, or people go, ‘Oh, they’ve lost it’.

Which reminds me – what’s Alan up to now?

“Well, because he has got a show on the BBC, we have a problem, because we have to explain why he’s a failure, but that he has a show. The logic of what he is doing has to make sense.

“It’s conceivable, because in this age of Brexit, they (the BBC) might think they need to get in touch with the ‘Little Englanders’ they ignore.”

and here it is

- 'this time with alan partridge'
- alan will be co-hosting (again)
- sidekick simon returns
- six half-hour episodes later this year

arrrhah

"might think"

LYNN

my assistant! my assistant!

https://partridge.cloud/grabs/S02E01/gif/3fhpSp05G0uj.gif

maybe those people were caught short

i wonder if she ever got to meet benjamin netanyahu

Bit confused about the format of this now, previously news led me to believe it'd be a spoof magazine show a la kmkywap, but if lynn's in it that suggests there'll be at least part of it that's a fly-on-the-wall thing

perhaps the “Further casting will be announced in due course” is michael

Michael is confirmed to have died sorry

Bit confused about the format of this now, previously news led me to believe it'd be a spoof magazine show a la kmkywap, but if lynn's in it that suggests there'll be at least part of it that's a fly-on-the-wall thing

perhaps lynn will play madge the badge to alan's dame edna?

I don't think they'd limit themselves by confining it just to the studio now that they've got a BBC budget

"bbc budget" possibly not quite as elephantine as you imagine

Michael is confirmed to have died sorry

as per alan the reliable narrator

xpost

"300k or we take it to Sky"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1t39E5xMD5I

I'm Alan Partridge and I am delighted, or at least content, to invite you to a special preview screening of my (and BBC One's) upcoming magazine show 'This Time with Alan Partridge' (my emphasis).

The show marks my return to BBC Television after two decades in various doldrums (depression, radio, Sky Atlantic) and you've been carefully selected because you're either a journalist with a pleasant disposition or a friend or representative of an institution with whom I currently hold no specific grudge.

Limited refreshments will be provided. I think it works out at about two drinks a head, although around a third of you won't drink so some of you can have four. Food-wise, expect light snacks; those of you with a large appetite or poor impulse control should probably eat before you get there.

Toilet facilities are also on hand, catering for the full spectrum of gender and disability - but again, if you have more bespoke needs, try to go before you arrive.

Dress code: Just show a bit of respect really.

Have some manners and RSVP.

You couldn't POLL a cat: it's the 'I'm Alan Partridge' episode poll

I liked that, but the 'live show' format puts me on edge where KMKY didn't.

(The Edge is fine etc)

yeah it was too much or something. i dunno, i laughed a couple of times, i don't think i'm interested in whatever this sort of thing is any more.

i loved it

That's about what I thought, yeah. The presentation bits and Simon w/ the digi-wall just weren't very funny imo. It was about the stuff in between for me, that was nice.

"A b.... Bolshevist with a bee in his bonnet" is a keeper. Anyone remember the first 'b' word in there?

xp to kinder

fluck/clunt left me cold i looked pretty much everything else. When did Lynn become an almighty bitch though?! she has had her moments, I guess...

*, I liked everything else

I liked it on the whole, but feels like something I'll have to get used to - the combination of densely packed comedy with this ultra-bland format which makes me feel like tuning out and ignoring it, feel like it's kind of unexplored territory and will take a few episodes to start not feeling wrong. Ultimately though think putting Alan in such an uncomfortable situation will ultimately be a wise move, the sheer discomfort of everything seems like pretty fertile territory.

He's turned the Richard Madeley up to 11. Is it going to be studio bound the whole time? Hope not

haven't seen the whole episode yet, but the rote partridgeness of that clip does not bode well.

this was pish. the acting was awful.

When did Lynn become an almighty bitch though?! she has had her moments, I guess...

she's doing her job, assisting and supporting Alan. Jennie is undermining him, and Lynn's pointing it out & giving Jennie a little of her own medicine.

(Alan absolutely doesn't deserve either the pointing out nor Lynn's loyalty at all, but she has taken her job seriously for at least 22 years of Partridge continuity!)

On the evidence of the first episode, the Gibbonses should have left Sidekick Simon in Norfolk; it makes no sense that Alan should be given so much airtime for this ridiculous diversion on his initial stand-in night. If his ineffective standing up to Mickey was rewarded in the second week, that would be a chance to bring Simon in (then fuck up & either not be seen again, or start being part of an 'Alan brings success down around him' narrative)

This was funny, but would have made more sense if they'd given him the full series to reconnect with Brexit Britain, as was initially suggested, rather than framing it as a temporary stand-in.

not seen it yet, but hearing a bothersome milksop like Tim Stanley praising it on thought for the day is enough to put me off for another day.

It felt a bit rushed and forced - like we know Partridge is awkward etc and there wasn't really enough chances for his character to emerge. I'm not sure setting him up directly opposite another character is ever going to work, he just sort of engulfs the co-host who isn't written particularly well even as a foil.

The bits where he sort of had space to be Alan were amusing enough, the grandad monologue and especially his report about washing hands.

Will probably continue watching but it was only okay really. Weirdly the more lo-fi Sky Atlantic stuff prob suits him better, this actually had the sheen of the One Show and the BBC or something and not solely in an ironic way.

This was funny, but would have made more sense if they'd given him the full series to reconnect with Brexit Britain, as was initially suggested

there's still room for this to become a major thread of the series! but in this interview the Gibbons say they're about to make another Partridge series which takes a documentary look at British history, so maybe more of those ideas have been held over.

Seems like the review is glowing mostly because he's back, not for the actual 30mins we saw last night. It felt flat.

Best laugh I had was hearing a man shout 'Partridge you wanker' in the background when he was walking down the street for his hi-jean report.

Chinaman square?

I get that Lynn supports Alan, but going on the offensive with the judgmental blouse remarks seemed fairly bold for her...

yes but I loved that! it contextualises her staying with him for so long. a glimpse of tenacious competence when seen from outside Alan’s horrible treatment of her - a perspective we almost never see (eg him not even naming her in the books)

btw the hacktivist is the Pls Like guy

xp oh yeah I did enjoy it!

broadly enjoyed it although if the whole series is going to be entirely contained in the TV studio with that dense joke format it feels like it's going to run out of steam

things like Sue Barker references kind of betray an inherent cosiness but I'm not really fussed by that personally

it seems clear that this is all building to something, and that this episode is laying the foundation for some great story arcs, but… it was dry. i don’t think i laughed at all in the last 10 minutes, and moments which they clearly crafted to death (mainly the toilet mime) just felt forced.

i assume they’re playing up the precedent of people like madeley and piers morgan somehow continuing to be on the telly, making this conceit (just barely) believable.

yeah I had a constant running background thought of 'could I imagine watching a viral clip of Richard Madeley doing/saying this' which mostly produced affirmative answers

Very few highlights I thought - the Diana Dors joke, "Partridge, you wanker", Chinaman Square, another mispronunciation one I can't remember but will pick up on a rewatch, the co-host stealing his joke for the second time, Lolly Adefope disagreeing with everything he said while the co-host was always "exactly right".

Maybe it'll get there but the Sidekick Simon stuff fell horribly flat and the Emily Maitliss stuff felt like contractual obligation rather than scripted comedy.

oh wow i’ve only just worked out what chinaman square is

Actually that was a thing that annoyed me - Alan seemed to be deliberately adopting weird pronunciations of words (not including the two mispronunciation times) which I don't recall him doing before.

Presumably the leopard seal sounding like Gary Numan was supposed to be a callback to Music For Chameleons.

Actually that was a thing that annoyed me - Alan seemed to be deliberately adopting weird pronunciations of words (not including the two mispronunciation times) which I don't recall him doing before.

it’s all through his sky atlantic stuff. he thinks he elevates his class in a daily mail reader sort of way by saying ‘w---hhhat’ and ‘tellolist’.

Weird, I didn't pick it up there at all. Mea culpa.

There was a bit too much crammed in maybe - Knowing Me Knowing You works because there's only three guests per episode and everything gets time to breathe. As pure KMKW it might have worked better but they're trying to tell the backstory around the sides and that's the bit that isn't quite working.

As far as I know it's all going to be onset like that.

There's a sort of parallel but unintended irony at work in the fact the BBC are actually promoting this in HD as a flagship show, putting the likes of Maitlis in as a cameo etc. Even that email that went around to BBC staff yesterday. I think this is bad and gives it a glossy feeling that is very anti-Partridge. The sad thing is The Trip imo really suffered when it moved to Sky Atlantic as such a quintessentially BBC type of show, the Spanish series was really low budget compared to the first two, whereas Sky Atlantic actually gave Partridge a sort of retro British feeling in terms of how it looked and felt. They were channelling this for the handwashing report on last night's show but not sure there was enough of it.

Some of the all-time best Partridge moments are in Crooked Isle and the like.

agree with the general sense of disappointment

I think Mid-Morning Matters worked so well because it was Partridge completely in his element. Obviously, there's comedy to be had in him awkwardly trying to fit into a "proper" TV show but it's just not as funny as stupidly confident local radio Alan

Yeah agree - watching someone, who seems to just be "a normal BBC presenter" thinking he's a moron and vaguely negging him doesn't really yield much joy.

No other *colleague* in my decade at the BBC has taught me so how to go ‘hands-free’ in a train toilet.
Thanks, Alan.pic.twitter.com/IyTl1MAtgD

— Tim Johns (@timoncheese) February 25, 2019

i agree with pretty much everything itt but i'm staying focused on the fact that they're trying to do something completely different with alan, so i don't want to judge it too harshly on what we've seen so far. the series is a complete piece and we're still in act 1, so it's had to take its time to set up the characters, the format, etc. if it's going to go horribly off the rails (and it will, it's partridge), it needs to show us what the show looks like when it's on the rails.

definitely better second time round. susannah fielding does a fiercely good job in this, keeping up the gratingly authentic one show persona while fitting in subtle reactions to alan and being something else again during cutaways.

It already went off the rails - perhaps it would have been better if it didn't because then there'd be a credible reason for Partridge to come back. As it is, I don't think there would be bar a social media frenzy and ratings spike.

To be fair Alan's Knowing Me Knowing You talk show also went off the rails from episode one

I thought this was solid, I don't expect anything more than another round of solid AP

sure it’s technically off the rails already, but in the era of piers morgan continuing to get work it’s easy to justify the show returning in its current state.

btw by ‘off the rails’ i mean absolute calamity with injuries and resignations and possibly fire, rather than a bad interview and some tetchy hosting.

the Emily Maitliss stuff felt like contractual obligation rather than scripted comedy.

The BBC is so full of itself (sometimes?). That bit was horrible and the prog went off after it I thought. I fear there will be more of this too.

The programme literally went off after the Maitlis bit - it was the last 1-2 minutes of the show!

more content:
https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/alan-partridge-sandwich-review

(i always enjoy the written stuff!)

alexa is doing alan partridge quotes now. makes little sense since they’re completely out of context and in the wrong voice (e.g. it just gave me “why are you wearing that snazzy cardigan?” in humourless robot lady voice)

can’t get it to say “TEA OR COFFEE TEA OR COFFEE”

i’m all for alan everywhere but this is not even 7 on 10

wtf, that's brilliant. but so wrong

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/entertainment-arts-47369328

The comedy character's comeback was watched by 3.2 million viewers, according to overnight figures.

Back of the net

i've just watched it a third time because a) i'm insane b) there's so much fine detail that it easily bears rewatching. it really does get better (the hand hygiene package especially, since there's so bloody much peak partridge in there), but i maintain that everything after lolly adefope doesn't work.

This one was better, quite a few genuine laughs, the ending worked better though I found the animal voices bit unwatchable.

great episode and the ending was brilliant

Pivot to realising he had something on them and could exploit it was very well done.

Presumably this means the new show being talked about is War Machines.

It was infinitely better than the first episode. I thought the animal voices cringe-worthy done good, not bad. Really enjoyed this all the way through. "RIP you will be mist".

What still kind of bugs me is that Jennie - most of the time - doesn't bat an eyelash at AP's faux meanderings, and neither does the audience. Though the audience as gullible 'clap cattle' is probably close to the truth tbf.

*"he used to bring them off in the street"
*John's hand on Suzannah's knee in the clips
*The bit with the fan from Sunderland

Animal voices was maybe good but I just couldn't watch it

AP's eulogy literally drenched by whisky and Haskill's intake boosting Scotland's economy, that was sort of old school AP imo. I thought it was inspired.

Technically the meat-packing plant is in Willand

Oh one more - in the battle recreation "don't, I've got kids"

He had a v good quip about Adrian Chiles too, but I forget these jokes so quickly.

couldn't think what that "I've got kids" reminded me of but it was this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWpF4tBwhGQ

Anyone else follow the random Twitter debate about vegetarianism going on in the background?

Alan’s odd pronunciation of a couple of things in the first one reminded me a bit of Stephen toast, and now we have matey boy from horrible histories / the detectorists in the ray purchase role

do not disparage the co-writer of Paddington 2 in this manner

I thought Farnaby was perfect for the Partridge universe btw, like he could have been in four episodes of the TV version of Knowing Me as different characters.

yeah, i don't mind him tbh

What still kind of bugs me is that Jennie - most of the time - doesn't bat an eyelash at AP's faux meanderings, and neither does the audience.

this i don’t mind because real-life precedents make this at least partially believable, and jennie’s ultimately trusting that alan’s crapness won’t impact her career at all (at least until the last few minutes, when she’s basically staring showbiz death in the face).

also, now we know she had to deal with some horrifyingly sleazy shit from baskell, so there’s a good chance she’s relieved to be working with a dithering fool who isn’t a rapey bastard.

and on that: the writers have put jennie in the invidious position of being the subject of baskell’s revoltingness while also trying to step around what he was in order to keep her career intact. this has certainly happened right through tv history, and seems to be the first major theme of this series. has partridge been this dark before?

thought the second was unwatchable :/

it all feels so stiff, like his partridge muscles have ceased up from under use

The stiffness is part of the point, everyone who isn't Jennie is physically awkward on camera. Jennie doesn't bat an eyelid when Alan goes off on one because she's a pro.

The fact that Alan himself is replacing a journeyman hack and noted sex pest at least gives it the veneer of credibility that he might be back on camera, it looks like a gig no one else would touch with a bargepole.

Art Garfunkel Detectorists guy always makes a great foil though.

under-use? in the last three years he's hosted TFI Friday as Alan, co-written Nomad and performed it as a six-hour audiobook, co-written and starred in the 45-minute Scissored Isle, co-written and performed six half-hours of Mid Morning Matters, consulted or collaborated on half a dozen magazine pieces, gone on Inheritance Tracks as Alan, co-written these six half hours (nb that the Gibbonses say that the writing-with-Coogan part is mainly the three of them sitting around talking as Alan, but Coogan does the voice) and possibly co-written another six before they shot these.

2018 didn't see any new material out, but only because they were writing two entire TV projects and filming / editing one of them.

I think my favourite part might have been Alan's reaction to "at school, when the lights were out, all the boys were talking about what they'd like to be."

yeah I caught that too

If anything the lack of inspiration on show here is a symptom of overuse

As sic's list demonstrates, the Gibbons have written a serious amount of Partridge at this point

has partridge been this dark before?

on the radio he was hypnotised into remembering quasi-sexual abuse he suffered as a child, also bullied a current child into tears from his own insecurity, shot a man dead on television, and later forged a signature using a dead man's hand to try and get in back front of an audience to fill the cavernous hole inside his empty soul

this one doesn't have a laugh track though

If anything the lack of inspiration on show here is a symptom of overuse

the overriding theme of this episode is as far from lack-of-inspiration as alan has ever been. we’ve only just reached act 2 of the series arc. and as long as alan gets new frameworks to work within, i don’t see him being overused at all. at best this is only reminiscent of earlier partridge.

xp to sic: true, and imo career-long sex pest fallout is darker than fatal gunshot, cross forgery and childhood bullying, but about as dark as recalling his own sexual abuse (which i’d forgotten about so thanks for reminding me they’ve dealt with this area before)

I thought he actually hit the child genius on his radio show, he certainly made him piss his pants. "...Simon Fisher, wet boy, and his dad, a nobody".

late-'30s Alan bullying a child to tears, not childhood bullying!*

If they play out the Yewtree thread, it can definitely get darker, but right now it's equally as likely that it'll just be the prompt for Alan's pivot to his uppers. The potential for laughs would certainly erode if they go much further than the tumbling cluster of revelations in that final scene tonight.

* It's only that Alan's prepubescent sexual humiliation came from other children that made it possible to recover in KMKY, though

This seems like a step backwards to me, it's too like Knowing Me...; I much prefer Mid Morning Matters, wchich feels less scripted.

x-post: ah probably, it's been 20 years. Remember having to buy a shrinkwrapped set of cassettes to listen to a radio show from years before in another country? Good old days, eh.

I’ve never seen/heard any of those things sic so I guess I’m the problem - had no idea they even existed. I knew he’d written the book and done the film

I will give it another try

Nomad was a second book!

late-'30s Alan bullying a child to tears, not childhood bullying!*

i meant to say child bullying

(first book was 2011, two different 45- minute telly specials [one of which is perhaps the best TV Partridge] were 2012, film was 2013. he did rest the muscles for a couple of years after that, possibly because everyone involved in the film hated making it bcz they thought it was a bag o’ shite.)

Would be fun to have an AP watching / listening thread sometime, there would be a lot to get through

#AccidentalPartridge pic.twitter.com/bAN3WN2ysg

— Accidental Partridge (@AccidentalP) March 4, 2019

https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2019/03/05/42449/1.5million_watch_fleabags_return

both Martin Clunes’ Warren and This Time With Alan Partridge lost a hefty 1.4million viewers each – which trade website Broadcast ascribed to the return of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? on ITV, seen by 4.3million.

Warren was seen by 2.4million at 9pm, with Steve Coogan’s magazine spoof attracting 1.9million.

episode 1 gained almost 2 million viewers on 7-day catch-up

yeah, i’m looking forward to the iplayer numbers

https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/reality-tv/a26700272/piers-morgan-steve-coogan-alan-partridge-good-morning-britain/ https://www.digitalspy.com/tv/reality-tv/a26700272/piers-morgan-steve-coogan-alan-partridge-good-morning-britain/

"Ratings have halved week on week," Piers continued. "Not just slipped by 10-20%, they're over 40% down. Literally, nobody is now watching. I watched it last night."

Good Morning Britain airs on ITV, while This Time with Alan Partridge airs on BBC One.

He's such a massive bellend

I'm slightly worried about this social I have coming up which is a community meal where you bring your own plates, cutlery etc but my own dinner plates are massive. I've paid a set price and don't want them to think I've got a scam going with my big plate.

Haha, even Coogan at his most awkward pales against Piers’ resting dope face

i've not for a single second recognised a parody of piers morgan in this time, it's just wishful thinking on his part

imagine wanting to ride on the coat tails of alan partridge

given alan’s solid victory at the end of this, i can’t help wondering whether they chose a shuttlecock specifically because a bouncing metaphor would be too obvious

I liked the part in ep 2 when Alan got turned on by the video of the woman washing her hands

Also the female lead in this is so cute

her performance is astoundingly good, given 80% of it comes from the requirement for subtlety

That thousand yard stare into the camera while Alan goes off

yeah in each of these eps after a certain point she just gives up on anything besides carrying on with her job. you can imagine her hitting the bottle. it's all a disaster but she just rides the tide of the show, trusting it's steel-plated enough to tromple over the rough spots

> I liked the part in ep 2...

A pedant writes: the hand washing was episode 1.

I liked the impractical set - the steps to the interview area - the ones that took slightly too long to traverse.

I liked the impractical set - the steps to the interview area - the ones that took slightly too long to traverse.

You mean the same as they did on "Knowing Me, Knowing You"? (I haven't seen any of this btw).

Anyone else follow the random Twitter debate about vegetarianism going on in the background?

Alba otm, also wb Alba

Hello! I have been around, here and there.

"would bang"?

lol I read it as 'would ban'

omg that face

Best one yet I think

thought i was going nuts when “dramatisation” kept switching to “dramatization” and back

I didn't enjoy this one as much, the prerecorded sections really fell flat and the Sidekick Simon section was wasted.

i completely missed the giant clue in alan’s photo library, but caught all the noel edmonds shots (and initially thought the sunderland bloke was noel edmonds)

first half especially was really not v funny. felt very "written".

yeah, the scottish interview didn’t work for me once i saw whet they were doing

It's getting better with every episode. Loving his rivalry with Ruth

it was great how in episode 1 that rivalry could have all been in alan’s head, but last night it was absolutely real

yeah I think that's my favourite bit so far. and the pre recorded segments.

last week’s battle re-enactment did nothing for me but this week’s corporal punishment segment was pretty good

I for one was disappointed that one of Alan's corrections of Ruth was actually incorrect - the DVLA has not become the DVSA, that is a separate organisation formed by the merger of the DSA and VOSA, not DVLA and VOSA as Alan stated! disgusting tbh

All of Ruth’s contradictions of Alan in ep 1 were correct - the above has to be a delightful Easter egg for those who get it, showing that Alan’s status has risen, but not necessarily his accuracy

tbh the only reason I know that is because I've been having to deal with the DVLA over the last couple of weeks, so I know very well they still exist!

that did seem like a big error for ruth to make! i love you colonel poo, in a way

"As American as Mom's apple pie" is a throwback to the radio shows, right?

'As American as chocolate chip cookies and Mom' s apple tart' IIRC.

Much better this week. The look of panic on Alan's face when he realised what was happening during the song at the end was excellent.

yeah that's what I meant. I don't think I've ever heard of it outside of AP!

"Less unique than others" also

i hurt a stomach muscle from laughing so hard at the end

I tried watching Alpha Papa the other day, and made it about 20 mins before giving up - but I haven't watched any since the 'I'm Alan Partridge' days.

it’s not necessarily a bad thing, but this show is nowhere near as good as iap series 1 or the day today, as per coogan’s claim a few weeks ago.

it's certainly shaping up to be Partridge's least essential TV series

but it's grand like

It's much better than IAP Season 2, which was largely terrible other than the sex people episode.

largely terrible

i do not understand this at all

Are we about to fight the IAP2 wars again?

I think the movie is the least essential AP and basically the only thing I won't rewatch any more

yeah, that's why I said series

the movie has some incredible moments, mainly but not only the cuddly toy opening

It's a curate's egg of a series. Irish Alan was superb, but the Monty Don thing was mainly tedious.

i saw it three hours ago and i can’t even remember the monty don thing

but yes, curate’s egg describes it perfectly

Initialism vs acronym distinction takedown was great in ep 3

I laughed aloud several times through this. Each episode has been better than the one before, which is good, because I thought the first episode was a comedic flatline.

"ok.. a billion pounds"

best

Favourite moment this time was the coy way he said goodbye to the "shaved boy in a wig"

i wonder if he was clantily scad

Tash-hag

And of course people have reversed the backwards footage.

I know it's very obvious, but I just loved the way he crowded out every single woman on the "special women's episode", as happens so often in real life, blah blah.

I loved how you could see him tune out the second Deegle mentioned putting fuel in a turbocharger.

I didn't watch a lot of Mid-Morning Matters, so I'm not really sure I'm getting a grip on Simon's character. Does he have one, or is it just this? I don't really know what he thinks about anything.

lolly was a highlight again

the way the guy at the start flirted with alan was hilarious, and how alan’s responses to the guy gradually built up. kmkywap done with flair.

And call back to the ladyboys film in the Linton Travel Tavern.

best one yet

I loved how you could see him tune out the second Deegle mentioned putting fuel in a turbocharger.

the thing i loved most about this is that you know exactly what’s going through his mind the whole time (and so he doesn’t have to say a single word for this to work), but you need to really understand alan and why he’s trying so hard not to interrupt her, for the joke to really hit hard. when he finally cracked i actually cried laughing, mainly from the anticipation of him saying exactly what we knew he was going to say.

this episode in particular was full of beautifully timed gags that completely paid off. easily the best of the series.

also, now that there’s only one episode left, i can’t help wondering if it will end with him just... hosting the show. no sacking, no catastrophe, just the very real prospect of a second series.

Fucking rantillion!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-JL7zdjltc

Rantallion! It's one of the swears the woman at the British library taught him

I also really appreciated how he didn't touch the books, even though he was really frustrated and he clearly wanted to, and twenty years ago he would have, and there would have been a row. I was waiting for that to happen, and not looking forward to it.

no sacking, no catastrophe, just the very real prospect of a second series.

the Gibbonses are in pre-production on a new Alan project for the BBC to air later this year, probably a doco about British history. so he probably either remains in situ or gets promoted next week.

it'd be fine if he stays as the This Time host for a couple of years as a new status quo for the character imo. North Norfolk Digital was the home base for eight years of content, a change offers new scope for Partridge to be terrible again

Does he have one, or is it just this? I don't really know what he thinks about anything.

he's Alan's full-time on-air sidekick for most of MMM, and is baaasically smarter and more aware of things than Alan, but quite subservient to him, both professionally and due to self-confidence levels. so there is more to him that doesn't have a place in this series, where Key's main role is to shit himself in panic at being on TV.

(I reckon it would have been better not to add Simon until the second week, so Alan was a wee bit more established before bringing this unnecessary ninth wheel into a moving production)

the oysters segment was v good - "like a ghost's tongue"!!

still wildly uneven though. i thought the entire swear word package was v unfunny

and the joke w/lolly adefope contradicting him isn't funny enough to sustain the same joke repeated on every episode

the lolly joke is evolving though. last week she was deliberately faking the transatlantic delay. this week alan asked the exact same question and got a different answer. he knows she's doing it, is trying to catch her out, but she's still winning.

last two week's endings have relied on prosthetics, masks on top of the mask, i'm not sure i approve.

I found that one of the weaker epsiodes actually *shrug emoji*. I was knackered when I watched it last night though.

i thought the one with the IRA songs was better than the most recent one but yes, I was also knackered

The Lolly gag (ha) just gets better the more they do it. I'm a Stewart Lee fan btw

The Lolly gag (ha) just gets better the more they do it.

agreed. it's all in how OF COURSE someone like Alan would be easily provoked by Lolly, and how she triumphs over him every time.

last two week's endings have relied on prosthetics, masks on top of the mask, i'm not sure i approve.

― koogs, Wednesday, 27 March 2019 22:37 (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah, singing that shit song with giant lips wasn't funny at all, and you could see it coming from a mile off.

sic:

it'd be fine if he stays as the This Time host for a couple of years as a new status quo for the character imo. North Norfolk Digital was the home base for eight years of content, a change offers new scope for Partridge to be terrible again

yes! this would be perfect

Doesn't look like the series will end without a catastrophe:

"Something happens, as you might expect, next week; really, this should be Alan’s last “Aha”. He has had his last chance in the mainstream and comprehensively blown it; he should surely go back to the margins, to the broadcasting doldrums."

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/mar/26/is-this-time-alan-partridges-last-aha

that’s good news. i was thinking it might end without a catastrophe for alan’s career, which i suppose is still possible

oh god the sleep woman!

“I could harm them but choose not to”

was brilliantly creepy coming after me doubling up in laughter at the arse scratching.

Terrific Ep though I wish there had been more Jennie.

best episode of the series and I think it was because there was no Jennie

was basically an episode of Mid-Morning Matters by the end

rather strange and ambiguous ending

I don't know, it fits in with the Gibbons' comments that the next AP BBC show will be something different again - goes and has the chat, is still owed a favour by the Beeb for stepping into the gap so the spat with Jennie is put down to a personality clash and AP is given his own show to break up the partnership. As I speculated at the time, my guess is replacing Simon Farnaby on his battlefield archeology show after he's tainted by the This Time Yewtree brush. It sounded from the outset like the sort of thing AP would have done on Skirmish if it had a budget.

I just didn't really enjoy this series at all. It felt really broad! I guess Alan as a character concept needed to evolve to survive, but the weird funny voices he'd do didn't work for me, and mostly I just ended up feeling anxious over the inevitable fuck-ups, rather than enjoying any of them.

The IRA singer was great though. And the running gag with Lolly.

I was thinking the caller was going to fall from the ledge and die, glad they didn't go for that as too obvious.

I liked the series, not that much laugh-out-loud funny, but loads of moments that are worth coming back to, and I notice more every time I rewatch a bit.

aldo otm, jennie could cop the blame for being the one to storm off, and alan could come out on top for keeping the show together

Was Alan actually doing a good job by the end or is that just my investment in the character?

The police thing was really odd, don't think it worked really.

yeah it was a bit obvious

i do think alan (and simon!) were doing a reasonable job by the end, which i suppose is the point – a) as sidekicks they're on top of their game, and b) they made it work in a crisis. alan even exposed his interview subject for using his interpreter to try it on. it's like they've lined up 'this time' for a *cough*

The bit with the fashion designer was funny, in how he seemed to get into the swing of it as the segment wore on, but felt like a retread of the scissored isle bit where he really got into working on a supermarket checkout. And I don't know if it's just because we now live in A Different Time, but the hilarity of Alan's retrogade sexual politics - even though he's trying at least a little to be a smidgeon more woke this time round - just doesn't really feel very funny to me.

Wasn't it explicit that it hadn't gone well, ie Lynn not telling him it had gone well, the interview with the African water guy going badly, the exec producer being v angry at him?

Lynn not telling him it had gone well, the interview with the African water guy going badly

the former was in relation to the latter

and the exec seems much more likely to be angry about the recorded comments

I guess Alan as a character concept needed to evolve to survive, but the weird funny voices he'd do didn't work for me, and mostly I just ended up feeling anxious over the inevitable fuck-ups, rather than enjoying any of them.

I liked that Alan had some obvious professionalism compared to Simon - Simon's cheery tone when talking about the corrupt govt, for example, and Alan obviously thinking he should be doing sad serious voice instead

the former was in relation to the latter

no, Alan specifically asks her to tell him the fashion bit went well and she won't

Overall a slightly disappointing series - I feel the tone wasn't particularly well managed, and it was often quite self indulgent. When it was good it was very good, though.

Wasn't it explicit that it hadn't gone well, ie Lynn not telling him it had gone well, the interview with the African water guy going badly, the exec producer being v angry at him?

the interview ended in a pretty deft exposé, the exec producer is angry but it’s not clear why, and lynn’s poor judgement had been called out a couple of times earlier iirc. to me it really feels like it could go either way.

Overall a slightly disappointing series - I feel the tone wasn't particularly well managed, and it was often quite self indulgent. When it was good it was very good, though.

yeah, it missed the mark a hell of a lot, but the best bits were classic alan.

https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2019/04/05/42703/alan_partridge_to_front_a_sweeping_history_of_britain

filming in may.

some people have been knocking the gibbons era but this has been absolutely fine. ‘this time’ is definitely better without the weight of expectation (in australia it’s just gone up on iview so i’m watching them all again), and i maintain that ‘welcome to the places of my life’ is easily one of the best pieces of partridge in existence.

Overall a slightly disappointing series - I feel the tone wasn't particularly well managed, and it was often quite self indulgent. When it was good it was very good, though.

That about sums it up really

Disappointed we didn't get to see Ruth in the last episode

some people have been knocking the gibbons era

I've liked all the stuff they've done up to now, but 'This Time' felt too much like Partridge fan fiction to me. Did enjoy the CPR doll/Another One Bites The Dust scene, though, and his fantastic selection of jackets.

interesting you should say that, because to me the cpr scene felt more like fanfic than anything in the whole series

on rewatching the whole thing in a day, the quality of the writing really jumps out. the dialogue is crafted to within an inch of its life, even if some of the broader aspects don’t land, and the acting (especially from fielding) is far better than i remember from classic partridge.

the series arcs were pretty jarring though: the ruth thing building up and then just stopping, the way they handled simon and lucy hooking up, jennie suddenly storming out in the last one.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/feb/15/the-trip-series-four-greece-rob-brydon-steve-coogan

3rd of March

Yeah. I’m seeing the new Winterbottom-Coogan film tomorrow and frankly it looks really shit but I’m not above being psyched for a new series of this

this time series 2 and a podcast coming

hopefully the travel/history show is still coming too, and isn't reduced to segments in This Time

yeah, this doesn’t exactly sound promising for its survival (assuming it’s the same thing)

Coogan also said that he had other plans for the character, explaining: 'There might be a documentary series with Alan roving around Britain.'

guessing at this stage that the Beeb wanted more of the thing that had been on the Beeb already, dgaf about more of the thing that had been on Sky Atlantic previously

makes complete sense tbh

i’m listening to nomad again, and had forgotten just how brilliant parts of it are, to whit:

‘twas the night before alan’s walk
and all through the house
not a creature was stirring
not even an alan

he delivers this, then condescendingly states the importance of poetry containing a rhyme so that the reader knows the author isn’t just lazy. but the poem he only just delivered doesn’t rhyme.

one of my favourite things about the gibbons era is the punchlines which cap off multiple jokes at once. a brilliant example is him saying candle in the wind was about “marilyn monroe, princess diana… there are others” — the two jokes being a) he can’t think of any others and b) there weren’t any others. it’s proper genius imo.

how weird, I'm just watching that Candle In The Wind episode right now!

it’s such a good episode too. this time is a lot better on third/fourth viewing. loads of classic alan.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2020/sep/02/alan-partridge-podcast-interview-boris-johnson-oasthouse

Podcast on Audible. I don't have an account though, anyone know how podcasts work on it as in, can I get the free trial and dl them all or will they be spread out?

When I did a free trial to get Butterfly Effect I was able to get them all, but they may decide to space these out - dunno

the preview episode was so bloody good. this should be some of the best alan in a long time.

you have to go back to the 2017 Red Nose Day Stonkers voiceover to hit recent Alan that isn't very good to excellent though

yeah that’s true, i just think this is shaping up to be better than this time, both books, scissored isle &c.

like, the whole sequence of him rambling is just astonishingly funny and original in the alan canon

or a callback to Christmas 1994 :)

(I think this is the first Partridgiana that situates him in Norfolk, too)

Mid Morning Matters is the best Partridge of the past decade (haven't heard the podcast yet).

true, this probably won’t eclipse mmmwap

sic: ‘welcome to the places of my life’ was set & shot in norwich

Seems to be 18 podcast episodes up at about 25 minutes each. With an audible trial you can get the whole lot

I'm an episode and a half in and so far it's great.

AA - I meant the sketch I posted, which was 18 years before Places Of My Life :)

Weird that this is something you have to spend a credit on rather than one of the Amazon originals ‘included with your membership’

I enjoy it but can’t listen on headphones , it’s too much Alan, too intimate. Over a small speaker like old timey radio style is perfect

someone do a revive when it is on slsk

diy

Okay I was legit lolling through episode two numerous times, which was offputting because I was listening to it while I ran.

downloaded it, now I just need to figure out a way/time to listen to it

I had to turn it off in the car because I was laughing too hard.

AA - I meant the sketch I posted, which was 18 years before Places Of My Life :)

― erratic wolf angular guitarist (sic), 2020年9月4日 星期五 上午 5:59 (three days ago) bookmarkflaglink

agh of course you were, wish i could read tbh

i’m just over halfway through, and it’s not MidMorMat brilliant but still heaps worthy of existing. plenty of classic moments and even some of the most effective pathos in the canon.

Coogan's performance is so incredibly and hilariously detailed in this, especially thrilling after my disappointment with same in Nomad

I’ve tried listening to it and doing other things and that hasn’t worked out. It demands full attention

Yeah, I'm enjoying it a lot but finding it hard to find times I can hear but am not going to fall asleep

for people that can't be arsed pissing away time or money nor audible signups to experience this so so, pretty non-essential AP material, it's on slsk now!

Aha!

this should be some of the best alan in a long time.

The episode where Alan goes to Lynn's house is one of the best Partridge things ever.

(it is also infuriating and very stupid that it wasn't released as separate episodes.)

The head's too big for the body

Every episode I've listened to has been great so far, and much better than last year's TV series IMO. The bit in like the second episode where he was talking about his dog savaging a guy who was walking past the Oasthouse with a sandwich and who refused to drop said sandwich made me weep with laughter.

What's curious about the whole discussion here is - Partridge is still good. Very good. And has been through multiple instances and formats.

Few characters or comedy ideas remain this good for this long?

because he isn't Harry Enfield for a start! I was listening to a clip on 4extra of his R4 comedy debut in the 80's, where he plays a hapless stand-up comedian saying stuff like "you lot would go down well in a graveyard" + "did you hear about the Irish lampost? it pissed on a dog" and I was pmsl!

Sandy Stone did, though only through one-act monologue plays a couple of times a decade.

Partridge (29 years) has a way to go to beat Edna Everage (64 years, and not necessarily out yet), who has at least as many formats as Partridge and while the character does not have the depth of Alan - especially after her elevation to Damehood, twenty years in - and has been in some ill-designed projects, remained funny across stand-up, revue, radio, scripted theatre, semi-scripted TV, talk shows as both guest and host, supporting character in film, comedy book, fictional autobiography, sitcom actor, theatre improv, live in-person appearances, game-show hosting and advertising spokesperson.

Last one reminds me: iirc, and I may not, her equivalent was deliberately portrayed as annoying and unfunny in Humphries' roman a clef

oh yeah, she made records too

Partridge is still good. Very good. And has been through multiple instances and formats.

Few characters or comedy ideas remain this good for this long?

What's more remarkable is the general consistency despite seismic changes in the creative team behind the character. The guys stewarding Alan now are doing a fantastic job of making the character deeper and more complex while still staying true to the original character on On The Hour.

on my second run-through now. at times it seems a bit short of ideas, but the peaks are incredible. the father’s day episode is a work of art imo. as good as early partridge was, he feels like an real and fully realised person now, with the consequences of his actions over decades coming home to roost in the most thoughtful and satisfying way.

I listened to the whole thing in one go while redecorating at the weekend. The theme tune never stops being funny after 38 repetitions.

i’m alan partridge, this is my podcast... ‘MTHEOASTHOUSE

Just simple stuff like how he pronounces the "h" in whilst is hilarious. But the Alan Partridge project is deeper than a simple lampoon of hopeless MOR TV presenters now, From The Oasthouse - like the best Alan of recent years - is focused on a certain late-middle-aged redundancy, men who've been coasting on their own hubris and self-belief for so long they've not noticed that it's all leaked away and they;re left with nothing of much value. That thing about how Alan and all his golf club mates discussed with each other what to name their cottages, and Alan ended up with the Oasthouse...

I went to listen to a new one last night, realised after a few seconds it was the one I'd listened to last and just re-listened anyway. Think they do need two run-throughs.
He's got the voice down so well, it's a little close to home actually as he sounds identical to my dad in places. Always has.

stevie and kinder otm. he’s definitely moved slightly out of the realm of parody and more towards portraiture. i know people who are just like alan but 10 times worse: louder, more insecure, more bigoted, and an even greater groaning self of sense-importance. if they wanted alan to remain firmly in parody, they could have cranked him all the way up to 11, but instead they’ve chosen to demonstrate that alan is actually in 2020 now, and is responding positively (and sometimes reluctantly) to changing attitudes. an example of this is where he touches on trans issues: he gets it wrong of course, but he’s at least listening.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-54277794

Alan Partridge statue appears in Norwich

AA, i remember thinking similar when s2 of I'm Alan Partridge came out... the "driving to Dundee in bare feet" suggested he was going to be crayzee but they made him "chilled out" with a girlfriend, which sounded like a terrible idea at first but was done so well, the sort of forced positivity etc

The father's day podcast with the time capsule is oddly moving, while still hilarious.

yeah, it’s incredible how they get the balance right, and the end is such an unexpected payoff.

kinder otm, that was really well done. maybe that was the start of a more rounded alan. people knock s2 but it’s chock full of value.

#AccidentalPartridge pic.twitter.com/J4pyPCTDab

— Accidental Partridge (@AccidentalP) October 3, 2020

I walked past the Forum a few days back and was hoping to see the statue, alas, didn't know it was quite so temporary.

“When the shoe is on the other foot, it’s very different!”

This is as good as he’s ever been imo

Great posts on this thread explaining why

Did the final two episodes this week - for a moment when Alan had received all the genuine advice from High Noon about treating the injured bird, and was then tracking him down, I thought it was going to turn out to be a betrayal by Bill Oddie

LA musings are great

The father's day podcast with the time capsule is oddly moving, while still hilarious.

How much of this does he write? Anybody know?

He generally does zero of the sitting-at-a-keyboard writing, but sometimes does lots of initial riffing with the Gibbons. The brothers then divide up ideas and write separately, and then they and Coogan and whoever else is on a given project* will revise. No idea if that's the same here, but it was made before the world shut down, and likely written while he was busy promoting Greed and the fourth series of The Trip...

*I think everything since Alpha Papa has just been the three of them, though sometimes Armando will give feedback.

I was hoping you’d come thru sic. Thanks :)

:D

Probably less relevant to the process on this project, but also notable, from an interview with Neil about This Time (nb they started directing as well with MMM season 2):

Once the script is finished it continues to evolve until the cameras roll. 'On set we'll hammer it again and again, before and between takes, partly to gives us more options in the edit,' says Neil. 'And then there's the edit itself which is another phase altogether. The assembly that's put together at the beginning of the edit is miles from the finished article. We carry on writing until we deliver the final show, basically.'

i’m alan partridge, this is my podcast... ‘MTHEOASTHOUSE

hahaha i know except except - he says “i’m Ala’ Patridge” WHY DOES HE DO THAT

I think you'll find that he very helpfully went into extreme detail about why he has had to adopt some counterintuitive pronunciations in order to rise above anti-Norwichian prejudice on the media stage. So bloody go and stuff your leading questions!

I'd like to apologise for that earlier outburst, I acknowledge you were posting in earnest

no yes. well.

🤠

The theme tune is always in my head, but my brain wants to finish it with "with your fist holding tight... to the string of a kite" then I've got "Let's go fly a kite" as an earworm.

Initialism vs acronym distinction takedown was great in ep 3

― calstars, Tuesday, March 19, 2019 4:09 PM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink

Just seen this from the This Time thread!

Not 'thread'... the bit of this thread

this is v good
https://www.vice.com/en/article/4ayjpj/oral-history-of-alan-partridge

Lee & Herring shafted again...

Thanks for that! the laughter track thing is so weird, I must've watched IAP s1 hundreds of times but it still surprises me to see it.

Podcast is very good but it will never beat the real thing:

#AccidentalPartridge pic.twitter.com/jXHTD8adEo

— Accidental Partridge (@AccidentalP) October 10, 2020

fucking hell

that is next-level.

and now here’s bernard matthews to talk about national vegan day

On the BBC 4 Podcast Hour, Coogan says that they're writing a second series of This Time at the moment, and it will be set after the pandemic. (They recorded a couple of late snippets of Oasthouse in lockdown, but thought it would unduly colour the entire project if they mentioned it. On the whole he prefers to avoid references to specific politicians or sports announcers in Partridge, as they're more transient than other elements of culture that concern the character.)

They recorded a couple of late snippets of Oasthouse in lockdown, but thought it would unduly colour the entire project if they mentioned it.

I may be misremembering, but I thought there were a couple of references to lockdown in the early episodes?

He may have said "to focus on it" or s/t - was mainly correcting the interviewer's impression that the whole project had been done under lockdown to entertain people in that situation.

Ah, right. I noticed the other day that the later episodes are clearly written in a non-Covid environment. Still not finished them yet, and will be sad when I do!

fucking hell

― Number None, Monday, 12 October 2020 bookmarkflaglink

that is next-level.

― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Monday, 12 October 2020 bookmarkflaglink

Isn't it a practice for a white person to talk first on these experiences rather than the person who has suffered the consequences of racists attitudes having to do the heavy lifting? Obv what happened next was edited for comedy but I'd be surprised if that was the only voice heard from in the discussion.

A rare piece of Partridgeana: the in-universe 1993 "fly on the wall" doco made during the production of Knowing Me Knowing You episode 4. Broadcast halfway between the KMKY radio series and The Day Today's TV series, includes the only actual appearance of Carol, and Partridge's only acknowledgment of his hair*. Plus Iannucci on-mic as the producer, and the intertextuality / strand-to-strand editing might hint that he wrote it with Marber & Coogan?

Up for another 16 days free listening rn: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00800kh

*(imo his hair was already retconned after IAP S2, and I'm adding another retcon between this and IAP to my headcanon)

Not exactly following you but he does discuss his hair in the Oasthouse. There's a whole episode inspired by his hair.

There's a gag about its apparent fakeness in the doco :)

thanks for the headsup!

Thanks too!

Irish Alan was superb

I'm finally watching this series and yeah, great bit and great performance by Coogan.

It's back! soon

The new series of #ThisTime with Alan Partridge begins on Friday 30 April at 9.30pm on @BBCOne. pic.twitter.com/k5cyl7hT7Z

— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) April 14, 2021

^

thank you for reminder!

very much looking forward to this!

This in-universe trailer is good

Co host is such a babe

HI NATHAN JERMAINE SHAWNA AND TRENT

how do I watch this in the US without breaking the law

are vpns against the law? does it matter?

Was she on Gervais's After Life? I liked that show despite the bleakness

HBO Max got S1 about two years after it aired

DRAMATIC SPOILER in the trailer for ep 2!!!

Alan come to America ffs

HBO Max has Knowing Me Knowing You, I'm Alan Partridge, the long versions of Mid Morning Matters, Open Books, Welcome To The Places Of My Life and This Time. Nearly all the other video material is on youtube or dailymotion, the books are available in tree or audio, and From The Oasthouse was exclusive to an American company. Morbs would be able to boxcar about there being too many options to take his measure these days.

Alpha Papa is currently free on Hoopla, Kanopy, Tubi, Pluto, Vudu, Roku, and Plex.tv, though it's a terrible place to start.

OTH, TDT and the original radio version of KMKY look to all be on youtube.

Radio KMKY is superb.

yeah, very underrated.

HBO Max has Knowing Me Knowing You, I'm Alan Partridge, the long versions of Mid Morning Matters, Open Books, Welcome To The Places Of My Life and This Time. Nearly all the other video material is on youtube or dailymotion, the books are available in tree or audio, and From The Oasthouse was exclusive to an American company. Morbs would be able to boxcar about there being _too many_ options to take his measure these days.

It seems that Alan's opinion of Lexi has changed.

CHEEKY MONKEY!!

I really enjoyed s02e01, having been quite on the fence about s01. Maybe lockdown has loosened me up, or maybe it was just better, but it was superbly done throughout.

Seems to me that series 2 is very similar to series 1, which was excellent. So either series 2 is also excellent or repetition / sameness diminishes excellence in which case S2 is merely quite good, quite good, etc.

While watching 2:1 my feeling was definitely: excellent.

Lolly Adefope's "yes." was somehow hilarious

I'd never seen any of these before, it was funny even though Partridge himself seems weirder and less like a real person than before.

The funniest thing to me was trying to get out of the door of the greenhouse. I could watch stuff like that all day.

Trying to explain the collapse of ITV franchises (and caring about it) is my twitter feed in a nutshell. I think probably monthly about Lennie Bennett introducing us to "Television Simply Wonderful", even though I was in a completely different region at the time.

this was probably my favourite episode so far, favourite bit was probably the explanation of why he went back and forth to the tailor so many times

Yeah that was great, especially the throwaway acknowledgement it was because he'd had hair surgery.

does anyone remember on the radio series of KMKY where Alan reveals under hypnosis that some kids at school called him "Smelly Alan Fartridge" when he was 9, then when he is told about it frantically tried to persuade the guests that he wasn't smelly when he was 9, took a shower every day, etc.?

yeah for some reason thinking about that tonight

Yes.

Took me half a day but I get you now.

The final episode of the new series was comfortably the funniest of the run.

The final episode of the new series was comfortably the funniest of the run.

Download from mega or google drive, have someone hand or post you a memory stick, VPN to UK

ilplex

It's on youtube

I bought the UK DVD it came in the mail today I started watching. The return of cheeky monkey sure went to strange places!

Anyway I’m two episodes in and haven’t seen Natasha Demitriou yet :(

you have :)

Wait, she’s definitely not the flirty makeup lady? I only know her as a vampire so maybe she’s been in plain sight.

Ahem

new partridge dropped

#AccidentalPartridge pic.twitter.com/dZVs4i3jYm

— Accidental Partridge (@AccidentalP) October 7, 2021

"personal slaughter" is classic!

accidental partridge things are not usually this good!

Yeah I laughed out loud.

Christ I needed him to make a fool of himself in exactly that way

For those outside the UK, Jeremy Vine is a perfect example of the sort of posh dimwit that is the bedrock of the British broadcast media, and they're all related to each other or married to each other or whatever.

Ahhh thanks

> and they're all related to each other or married to each other or whatever.

so dorries was right!

Stopped clock.

did we have a thread for real tv things that sound like things alan pitched at that meeting? Monkey Tennis, Youth Hostelling With Chris Eubank, etc

anyway, tonight, ch4:

"Extraordinary Extensions
Musician-turned-property guru Tinie Tempah follows British homeowners as they realise their dreams by embarking on ambitious home extensions."

There's so many of them, Channel 5 consists of little else.

Accidental Partridge

https://i1.wp.com/www.caroldrinkwater.com/wp-content/uploads/TX-CARD_A-YEAR-IN-PROVENCE-WITH-CAROL-DRINKWATER-3.jpeg?resize=580%2C386

Forgive the thread spam, but I wanted to note that this show's 2021 season is nominated in the ILX TV poll, with voting ending this weekend:

ILX's Best Television of 2021 Poll / VOTING AND CAMPAIGNING THREAD / Voting Ends After January 31, 2022

If you like this show and you'd like to see it have a good showing in the poll (running in February) all you need to do is submit a ballot including it and your other favorites (3 minimum, 25 maximum, ranked by your favorite to least favorite) to forksclovetofu at gmail. It'll take five minutes; get to it!

Heads up, there is a new series of the podcast 'From the Oasthouse' on Audible. I'm giving s1 a listen first but looking forward to it.

Awesome thanks!

S2 excellent so far (I'm halfway through)

I listened to this live.

#AccidentalPartridge pic.twitter.com/9AxUNcMU16

— Accidental Partridge (@AccidentalP) December 6, 2022

Love it

“Imagine you showed an iPhone to king Henry VII / it would blow his mind “

recently caught up on s2 of this time. so good

He's back!
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2024/feb/05/steve-coogan-return-alan-partridge-bbc-mockumentary

will watch but damn between books and podcasts and this, there 's a lot of Coogan content out there
wouldn't mind if he dropped all the partridge stuff and just did more series of the Trip

This was first announced in 2019, you’ve had time to catch up (on the 900 hours of other Gibbons material they’ve pumped out since)

The Gibbons material has all been strong imo, though I've not read the books since the autobiog.

the bit in Scissored Isle with the bubble wrap is still one of the funniest things i've seen

Other than the two series of “This Time”, the Oasthouse podcast, and the Amazon special, has there been other AP/Coogan content in the last couple years?

Two books, which are also available in (necessary) audio book format.

to be honest I have loved all of this stuff.

The only one I haven’t bothered watching is strategem, has coogan figured out how to do live comedy yet? Previous partridge et al live shows were dire

Yeah I saw strategem live and it was pretty terrible.

The little reunion at the end of the 3rd series of From the Oasthouse though was absolutely perfect and I loved it.

Oh didn’t even know there was a third series of Oasthouse and a new book.

yeah there's a lot to keep up with, I think the Beacon book passed me by completely (audio-only stuff takes longer for me to find time to listen to, and it's usually worth listening to the books).

I'm not complaining though, if the Gibbonses are reading...

Kindle edition of Big Beacon is in the daily deal today (UK)

oooh thanks

Alan Partridge comes to BBC One (tonight)

was talking about it on the radio last night, focus this time is on mental health

All six episodes of the new one on iPlayer

Can't wait - Partridge always makes me lol

how do you watch in the U.S.? the player says it's only available in the UK

Use a vpn

Did nobody watch this? I thought it was... not very funny. To be fair, I haven't really paid much attention to Alan Partridge for years because I haven't seen anything for years and what bits I have seen have been... not very funny. The best bit by far was his face to face with his old sidekick.

I'm just starting on the first episode, seems ok.

I've watched 3 and in enjoying it! bit up and down though, I'd agree.

Rupert bear outfit was pretty funny.

Two eps in, thought the second one was a lot funnier than the first. Premise feels like a good idea executed a bit weirdly. Some funny little moments (the conversation with Tim Key, some of the Saudi stuff, the tv cooking show).

tim key is always good. but yeah i thought this really lacked bite. did not finish first ep :/

i watched the first ep and it was fine but didn't feel in need of the instantly watching the second. i'm sure i'll watch it all bit by bit but didn't think it was great so far, a bit rushed or something.

It took me a while to click with This Time too, so will give it some time

Need to rewatch This Time.

I didn’t know Patrick Marber is a Tony-winning director until earlier this year

only seen ep 1 so far (and twice at that). takes a while to get going but once it gets to the soup kitchen i was really enjoying it. two best bits were the rupet costume and alan and simon talking through their issues with each other

rupert*

Was underwhelmed by episode 1, but 2 is a great improvement - Alan wheely-ing around his old Narch ends!

4th is probably the least interesting so far imo

I’ve watched all of these now. I think the funniest AP stuff has always tended to be him losing control of a situation, or of himself, and that works best in formats where we know he’s not controlling what we see, but breaks a bit in formats like this (or the podcast, or some of the earlier Alan-fronted things like Scissored Isle). If he’s controlling his own edit then we never really get to see him desperately flailing around.

So I don’t think it’s very funny, I maybe laughed twice across the six episodes. But I also don’t think that matters too much? It’s still really enjoyable, the whole project at this point works as an extended character study.

i was thinking exactly the same thing, that when partridge has ostensible control over the result there’s only so far they can go with naturalistic scenes, so the humour mostly - all? - comes from how crap he is at the format, or the ways in which his character obstinately bucks the format, which can be funny but idk less so, and with less potential to really go off the rails

like you don’t get his day to day in a travelodge or whatever which for me is the absolute peak stuff of the series. that said i loved the oasthouse podcast (still an amazon exclusive i think) but mainly because he did allow it to just become a day in the life type of thing

crinkle crankle walls

Things you were shockingly old when you learned

(linked tweet dead)