The wait is finally over. Alan Partridge is returning to the BBC tonight!
Yes, the hapless fictional broadcaster – portrayed by Steve Coogan – is returning to the small screen for the first time since the 1990s in a prime-time Monday night slot.
Partridge is back in the spotlight as a co-host on This Time, a spoof of The One Show, and the star has given fans clues about what sort of chat they can expect from the series.
Here’s all you need to know about This Time With Alan Partridge…
What is This Time With Alan Partridge about?
With Coogan off-screen since Knowing Me Knowing You came to a disastrous end in the 1990s, after a guest was shot on air, the magazine show setting marks the presenter’s return to prime-time BBC.
This Time – an early evening show – is a spoof of The One Show, putting Partridge into the hosting frame with a younger female co-host Jennie, who clearly has no idea who he is.
And things get off to a rocky start when Partridge’s dry mouth threatens to derail their first broadcast as he screams for water while the clock counts down to transmission.
The comedian explained that a whole episode will be dedicated to the Me Too movement which continues to engulf Hollywood.
Speaking on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast, Coogan said: “That’s such a difficult topic for anyone to talk about, for anyone to say anything about, but if you’re doing a character it weirdly gives you this licence to. You can get things wrong in a big way and it’s fine because it’s him doing it.
“You’re not sanctioning or agreeing with what he’s saying, you’re saying ‘This guy gets things wrong’ so you have licence to do it. And this is the crucial thing, because you’ve got a comic character he can say stuff that you go, 'that is so off message,' but sometimes he can say stuff that’s true that I can’t say.”
He added that it “isn’t saying he is right or wrong” but it is addressing prevalent news topics with a “sprinkle of humanity on arguments that are atrocious”.
Who else stars in This Time With Alan Partridge?
Susannah Fielding sits alongside Steve Coogan, as she helms the show with him as ambitious Jennie Gresham.
Partridge’s old Radio Norwich pal Simon Denton, played by Tim Key, has a segment on the brand new magazine chat show while Felicity Montagu plays Partridge’s assistant, Lynn Benfield and Lolly Adefope is Partridge’s This Time colleague Ruth Duggan – who isn’t his biggest fan.
There are also a number of celebrity cameos in the short series, the first of which comes from Emily Maitlis.
When is it on?
This Time With Alan Partridge starts tonight, February 25, on BBC One at 9.30pm. Episodes will be available shortly after on iPlayer.
