6 h. ago Alan Partridge is back at rock bottom – and it’s the funniest he’s been in years

After stadium tour success, the delusional broadcaster is back where he belongs: self-funding a series about the nation’s mental health. As comedy goes, it couldn’t be more pleasurableLike anyone who has grown up in the shadow of Alan Partridge’s three-decade dominion over British comedy, I want only the very best for Norwich’s most relentless broadcaster. By which I mean the absolute worst. For me, Partridge is at his finest when he’s scrabbling around the media’s outer fringes, rebranding past humiliations as glories and furiously name-dropping 1980s television personalities to the nonplussed acquaintances he genuinely believes to be his closest friends.Sadly, Alan has been riding (relatively) high in recent years. In 2022, Steve Coogan’s creation – now co-written by Rob and Neil Gibbons – embarked on a UK arena tour as a motivational speaker, imparting dubious advice to tens of thousands of adoring fans. Before that, he landed the job of a lifetime: a presenting gig on the BBC’s ...

Politics

49 h. ago How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge) on BBC One review: Steve Coogan's cringefest catches the cultural zeitgeist

Now's a great time to bring back problematic Partridge, and the new series is as bitingly good as ever

Politics

3 d. ago How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge) review – nothing else on TV has this many laugh

The fictional broadcaster remains the funniest comic creation in Britain, as he returns with this hilariously sloppy look at mental health. Is anything as joyous as watching his blunders? Surely notAlan Partridge is in crisis! But then, who isn’t these days? Last time he was on television, Alan was melting down live on air while hosting the light magazine show This Time, ending the series quite literally locked out of the BBC. At the start of his new, self-produced project, the light documentary How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge), the broadcaster reveals he’s since hit another low by fainting into the lap of a female interviewee during a corporate event for Norfolk agribusiness stalwarts Bannroyd Animal Feed. Tough times, but personalities of Partridge’s calibre know how to bounce back: tie your troubles to a national trend and see if you can get a series out of it.How Are You?, then, sees Steve Coogan’s immortal alter ego in roving factual mode, looking into an epidemic of anxiety,...

Politics

3 d. ago Alan Partridge takes on mental health – and the results are magnificent, excruciating and genuinely touching

From its depiction of midlife ennui to its satirical take on therapy-speak, ‘How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge)’ is the best Partridge-related project in years, writes Phil Harrison

Politics

1 week ago Nick Faldo drops Ryder Cup clanger as he goes full Alan Partridge with Lee Westwood cringe story

The former Team Europe captain was previewing the fourballs at Bethpage Black as he discussed Luke Donald's pairings

Politics

1 week ago Steve Coogan threatens to 'kill off' Alan Partridge after 34 years as he prepares new BBC mockumentary

The comic icon is gearing up to bring the clueless broadcaster back for a BBC mental-health special, How Are You?

Events

1 week ago Steve Coogan says 'part of me wants to kill off Alan Partridge' after playing him for 34 years

The actor became a household name through his portrayal of Partridge, the perennially tactless TV and radio personality he originally created while working with Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris.

Events

1 week ago Alan Partridge writer reveals how GMB star Richard Madeley's comment inspired new series

Alan Partridge is back on our screens after six years with a new spoof documentary on mental health - and the writers behind it have revealed how a GMB star played a role in its creation

Politics

1 week ago Alan Partridge is conduit to talk about ‘taboo’ subjects, says Steve Coogan

As TV character returns to BBC, Coogan says new series is a kind of ‘Trojan horse’ to air issues people feel anxious about bringing upAlan Partridge has become a “Trojan horse” to talk about “taboo” subjects that make people anxious, Steve Coogan has said.The hapless TV character is returning to the BBC in How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge) – a new series featuring him returning to the UK having been doing promotional work in Saudi Arabia and attempting to rebuild his career through a documentary about mental health.How Are You? It’s Alan Partridge airs on BBC One and iPlayer from 3 October Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Steve Coogan on the unusual Partridge viewer letter he keeps in his downstairs loo

BBC Radio 4 listeners had written to the station to say they were ‘appalled’ by Partridge’s on-air behaviour

Politics

2 w. ago Alan Partridge 'begs for cash 'in Crowdfunder ahead of new BBC series

Steve Coogan’s Partridge is back flogging birthday voicemails, oil paintings of your pet and even £10k ‘executive producer’ credits.

Economics

2 w. ago Steve Coogan's rollercoaster life revisited from rock star fling to playing Mick McCarthy

Ahead of the Middleton-born actor's new film Saipan coming out this Friday, let's delve back into the life of the man who gave us Alan Partridge among other things

Politics

3 w. ago Steve Coogan compares key Alan Partridge trait to Keir Starmer

‘Alan is lockstep with whatever will give him the least grief,’ said the actor

Politics

3 w. ago ‘Partridge is more popular than me – that’s a given!’ Steve Coogan on Alan’s glorious return

For three decades, he has played one of the UK’s greatest ever comedy characters. But how different is he to Alan Partridge really? Ahead of the presenter’s new show about mental health, Coogan is put in the psychologist’s chairThe line between Steve Coogan and Alan Partridge is a blurry one. The love of cars. The clothes. They’ve both done their own live arena tours. They even share a face. But if you ever needed proof that they’re not actually the same, it’s the fact that when I meet him for breakfast at his London hotel, he’s not at the buffet with an oversized plate, the staff aren’t giggling at him, and we’re not in a Travel Tavern.We’re here to talk about his new show, How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge). It’s the latest instalment in the wider Partridge universe in which he presents digital radio, writes books, successfully podcasts, goes on tour, and made his BBC comeback on magazine programme This Time. (The character is now co-written with the Gibbons brothers, rather than ...

Politics

3 w. ago England v South Africa: first men’s T20 international gets under way after rain delay – live

Over-by-over coverage of the first T20Get in touch with Tim to share your thoughts“Shame (but very predictable) about the current weather,” says Alfie Sparrow, although his email is actually about something else. “I’ve just moved into London, living in Tooting with some old uni mates. I was wondering if any readers have local cricket club recommendations? Played alongside Bas de Leede growing up in the Netherlands, winning 3 national titles in our age group. Wish I could say I was still near his quality but that’s far from the case – just after a friendly club for next summer.” Hope you find one.“My girlfriend has very tentatively started to get into cricket,” reports Charles Aspden. “And we discussed potential telly programmes which would further entice her in. In true Alan Partridge fashion, she wants to see ‘Tea with Amol Rajan,’ a show somewhere between Bake Off and Grandstand. Amol travels the country to try the best and worst teas around the village, county and international g...

Society

3 w. ago England v South Africa: first men’s T20 international, start delayed by rain – live

Over-by-over coverage of the first T20Get in touch with Tim to share your thoughts“Shame (but very predictable) about the current weather,” says Alfie Sparrow, although his email is actually about something else. “I’ve just moved into London, living in Tooting with some old uni mates. I was wondering if any readers have local cricket club recommendations? Played alongside Bas de Leede growing up in the Netherlands, winning 3 national titles in our age group. Wish I could say I was still near his quality but that’s far from the case – just after a friendly club for next summer.” Hope you find one.“My girlfriend has very tentatively started to get into cricket,” reports Charles Aspden. “And we discussed potential telly programmes which would further entice her in. In true Alan Partridge fashion, she wants to see ‘Tea with Amol Rajan,’ a show somewhere between Bake Off and Grandstand. Amol travels the country to try the best and worst teas around the village, county and international g...

Society