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It was five years ago that
The First Series
was broadcast and the end saw Alan sign a new BBC contract under dubious
circumstances. Since then, there's been enough time for things to unravel...
Finally, after a 5-year hiatus from our TV screens, Steve Coogan's
greatest creation - failed TV host Alan Partridge - returns to our
screens for a new series of "I'm Alan Partridge" on BBC 2/BBC Choice.
This first episode shed some light on Alan's activities over the past
few years - he's moved out of the Travel Tavern that was the inspired
setting of the first series, had a nervous breakdown (that culminated in
him "driving to Dundee barefoot), is dating Sonja (a "33-year-old"
Ukrainian played by Amelia Bulmore), has the third most prestigious slot
on BBC Radio Norwich, and is currently living in a caravan (or "static
home") while his new house is built.
But the thrust of the episode was with Alan's unexpected meeting with
his old teacher, who he forces to let him give a lecture to a class of
teenagers about his rollercoaster career in television.
Steve Coogan continues to be simply wonderful as the ineffectual
Partridge. Having played the character for over ten years every
exaggerated mannerism and naff catchphrase ("Back of the net!") is
performed with an acute sense of comic timing. It's a shame Coogan has
failed to find much success outside of Partridge - as he quite clearly
remains a very gifted comic actor able to lift occasionally shaky
material.
First impressions suggest this new series has lost none of its sparkle,
although the new set-up may take while to settle into fully. The script
is packed with one-liners and witty wordplay, although they do sometimes
begin to test ones patience.
Most of this opening episode is just a sequence of scenes with Partridge
displaying his ability to aggravate entire rooms of associates and
strangers alike. While this is mostly funny, it does reveal the lack of
a cohesive storyline behind the episode and the lack of depth in much of
the humour.
Still, as a first episode it should please fans worried such a prolonged
absence will have resulted in a turgid effort to live up to past
glories. Partridge has lost none of his monstrousness (in fact he seems
much more confident than in the previous series) because of his upturn
in fortune.
I eagerly await the next episode. Let's just hope the plot is more
dimensional this time.
Episode 2, 'The Colour Of Alan'
The new series of "I'm Alan Partridge" continues with 'The Colour Of
Alan', in which Alan Partridge (Steve Coogan) attempts to boost sales of
his autobiography "Bouncing Back" while trying to secure a conferencing
gig with a gas fire company...
If there's one thing that's beginning to grate with this new series it's
the very intrusive laugh track. To be fair, it's not "canned laughter",
as the series is legitimately filmed before a live studio audience, but
too often the tail-end of gags are lost amongst hysterical guffaws from
the omnipresent viewers.
I'm not going to add to the great "canned laughter" argument (this
week's tabloids have that one sewn up!) but even I have to admit this
series would be helped immeasurably by a banishment of the laugh-track
altogether.
Anyway, there are yet more fine moments to be seen in this latest
episode, particularly a finale speech to some gas fire executives -
given by Alan after a foot impalement! His battle to continue his
appointment through stomach-churning gag reflexes is a real highlight.
As usual the episode contains plenty of memorably banal dialogue,
although the shows' huge emphasis on Coogan's performance is becoming
quite a detriment to the flow of things.
The previous series also had a high Partridge-quotient, of course, but
for some reason this series seems to be over-relying on Coogan.
Tellingly, some of the more genuine laughs in this episode come from the
ex-Army Michael character - not because of any particularly humorous
writing, but because he's a welcome break from Partridge's strangle-hold
on proceedings.
Perhaps it's the change in Alan's temperament. In the last series he was
a lonely loser stuck in a Travel Tavern with memories of a one
glittering career; a comedic underdog. Now though, with Alan on the rise
(sort of) his more enthusiastic manner doesn't quite work as well.
The last time Alan was more upbeat was in the mid-90's spoof chat show
"Knowing Me, Knowing You". But there his enthusiasm was tempered by the
constraints of his TV host role (don't be rude to guests, appease the
audience, etc) - but within this "sitcom" structure his upbeat manner
and screen domination begins to test ones patience at times.
However, despite its continuing flaws (which could still be ironed out
before most of the series is over, I hope!) 'The Colour Of Alan' still
shoehorns in a few semi-classic sequences; the makeshift table and the
impalement speech.
Beyond those gems however, I have to admit that the over-use of
locations, hectic pacing, flimsy plotting, occasionally weak material,
and sad disregard of the supporting cast is beginning to frustrate me.
For instance, Amelia Bulmore's Sonja is tragically wasted, and Alan's
agent Lynne is a pale shadow of her former self; now solely a sounding
board for Alan's deluded sniping.
Maybe they should have re-launched Alan Partridge with a more original
show format? I still think Alan would be a fine UK answer to America's
"The Larry Sanders Show".
So far this new series just pales when compared to its magnificent
forbearer. I sincerely hope it improves, but they need calm things down
and let the jokes come more naturally within a well-structured
storyline.
Episode 3, 'Bravealan'
The new series looks to have finally hit some kind of form with the
third episode 'Bravealan', where Alan meets a kindred spirit called Dan
at the local petrol station. From here his services are required at the
annual Norwich Bravery Awards ceremony where he's a guest presenter...
The studio audience laughter is less intrusive for this episode
(hopefully in light of the backlash in the press), but what sets
'Bravealan' apart from the previous episodes is the semblance of a
proper storyline.
However, it's worrying that 'Bravealan' features yet another guest
speaking role for Alan - as this surely reinforces the criticism that
Series 2 lacks variety, or a definable reason, for actually existing. As
further evidence to this denigration, the episode even results in a mild
tweaking of the classic "number one fan" scenario Alan found himself in
last series.
Still, as always there are some great exchanges between Alan and all who
are unfortunate enough to know him - particularly at the Norwich Bravery
Awards ceremony and after-show party, with Alan using a wheelchair-bound
girl as a means for self-publicity mingling.
Also a great find is Dan, a toothy character with similar attitudes and
tastes to Partridge. He makes a fine addition to the episode, but it's a
shame he wasn't given a more central role in proceedings. The idea of
Alan finding a soul mate was one that could have been pushed much
further than it was.
Overall, Episode 3 hovers around the mid-level in terms of quality,
although the sudden darkening of Michael's character is most welcome,
and (at last) Amelia Bulmore's Sonja actually gets more to do because of
her unhealthy love of practical jokes.
Episode 4, 'Never Say Alan Again'
It's a Bank Holiday weekend for Alan Partidge, who decides to
commemorate this occasion with a "Bondathon" marathon run of all the
James Bond films in one carefully scheduled sitting.
'Never Say Alan Again' is a fun episode that is far more successful at
balancing the other characters with Steve Coogan than past episodes have
managed. Lynne has more to do, with Alan taking her visit her dead
mother's grave ("God rest her racist soul"), and acquainting Alan with
her boyfriend - who takes an immediate dislike to Alan's bullish ways
with her.
Elsewhere, Michael's possible homosexuality rears its head after last
week's subtle hint - after befriending a 'Yankophile' truck driver
(Look Around You's Peter Seranofowitz) much to the chagrin of patriotic Partridge.
'Never Say Alan Again' is a loose farce, with Alan fretting over the
arrangements for his weekend, the stern eye of Lynne's boyfriend, and
the loss of Michael's friendship (in his eyes anyway). The episode packs
the usual verbal repartee of Alan, but with a distinctly Bond-themed
slant; one scene basically just involves Alan explaining the entire
opening sequence of a Roger Moore 007 film to a nonplussed caravan of
acquaintances.
Still, as with this entire series there's still the nagging feeling that
the writers are overselling Alan's eccentricity. The subtle and
sustained humour of the first series is often missing here - and
replaced with verbal diarrhoea to disguise the lack of plot.
Steve Coogan remains a strong comedy performer, but the supporting
players often look sidelined and snubbed by the "one-man show" nature of
proceedings. The writing is still witty and irreverent, yet even this
episode lacks a decent storytelling framework for it to work properly.
It mostly resembles a series of Alan-led sketches linked by a loose
theme - in this instance James Bond.
Overall, 'Never Say Alan Again' was another entertaining slice of Alan
that die-hard fans should enjoy. You can always rely on Armando Ianucci
and Peter Baynham to pen eminently quotable catchphrases and ludicrously
humorous dialogue... but it all still tends to fall fairly flat because
of a faint wisp of desperation in everyone's faces.
Episode 5, 'I Know What Alan Did Last Summer'
The extremely inconsistent second series limps nearer to its end with
another uninspiring episode with no discernable plot or direction.
'I Know What Alan Did Last Summer' offers two new scenarios for
Partridge to verbally dissect into farce and abusive embarrassment.
First, Alan tries to avert the unwanted attention of two tax-inspectors,
and then later tries to persuade Sonja that he really is best mates with
U2's Bono by taking her to a National Trust heritage property.
Each scenario is fairly weak, particularly the tax-inspectors scenario -
which is effectively abandoned after one long scene. A major problem
with this series has been the complete absence of direction in
proceedings.
The dialogue is still fairly sharp, yet irreparably blunted by how it
fully dominates scenes. Plots don't seem to build into anything and
there is no sense of structure to the storytelling - with loose,
superfluous, nonsensical elements just thrown into the mix. At one stage
Alan visits the Choristers Country Club and tries to mix with some
stuffy businessmen - with marginal comedic outcome, zero character
interaction, and no relevance to the thrust of the story (if thrust can
be applied to this limp narrative).
Writers Steve Coogan, Peter Baynham and Armando Iannuci have simply
forgotten to tell stories. Each episode has so far been a succession of
sequences, wholly dominated by Partridge and increasingly difficult to
take seriously.
The quiet, subtle, eccentric and engrossing comedy last series has been
pushed aside for abrasive rants and catchphrase-overload. The supporting
cast continue to be snubbed by the writers, whose main concern seems to
be writing verbal diarrhoea for the show's star attraction.
Alan Partidge is still a funny character, but almost six years of
universal praise for "I'm Alan Partridge" has resulted in him becoming a
parody of himself. There are laughs to be had, certainly - with this
much talent it would be impossible for there not to be! But most of the
hits arrive merely because of the quantity of gags festooned over every
sentence.
The opening Norwich Radio scenes stay true to the spirit of earlier
Partridge offerings - being effective lampoons of local radio. But once
the show moves into "Alan's world" the show crumbles under the perceived
audience's desire for Alan to simply run the gauntlet of catchphrases,
ridiculous spiel, oafish bullying and petty banter.
The final episode and how did it fare? Some good moments, but they were still
a let-down when you put it all into context with the rest of the series. I agree
with Dan, whose Sky system is up the creek and missed the first screening of
the episode for which there are no repeats on analogue, above that the series
never seemed to go anywhere. There was no arc to it, apart from the
house-building, and the series didn't actually have a reason to be there.
It starts off well in the studio with the topic, "What will people look like
in a billion years time?", to which an elderly woman, Mary, claims we'll have
"big hands and big sex organs". "What would that look like?"
muses Alan. Mary replied: "Look in a spoon... in the bathroom..." -
which we know refers back to Michael's similarly-located spoon from episode 3,
and Alan hangs up immediately.
The time of reckoning has come for Alan's book, "Bouncing Back". All 14,000
unsold copies are off to the recyclers to be pulped, in a slew of "Word porridge"
as Alan calls it later on, and knocks anyone for suggesting the book would
instead be incinerated or destroyed. "It could become a Tressel table in an
old-people's home.".
He's also despondent about the fact that while no-one buys his book, there's
scores of copies sold of the new gangster biography "Bad Slags", including the
fact that he's bought one too, obviously just so he can criticise it(!)
There was a funny radio interview in which Alan insults the other guest, a
former drug user, played by Julia Davis, but it again turns into another
sketch for Coogan to talk over everyone else as Partridge shouts insults,
while bemused presenter Tessa McPherson (Rebecca Front) tries to restore
order. As she reveals herself to be a producer as well, that's the only whiff
of an attempt we get to make us think that he could be on the up again. He also
invites her to Lynn's baptism, stating "Lynn's being submurged for her sins,
literally".
There's a funny moment too when Alan washes his mouth out with Dettol before
kissing Sonia, leading Michael to say that he did better than that last night,
he had full sex with a woman! He stated that he gave here a lift all the way
back to Cardiff and having sex, ending up giving out Alan's phone number and
that's only when Michael finds out the woman's name.
Alan also finally moves into his house, but we only get to see a small room,
the same small room we've seen being 'built' all along, but since Alan's used
to small spaces all the furniture is crammed in - to save the BBC having to
build a proper set no doubt - and Alan quips how "You can get lost in space".
Finally, we get to the last big scene - Lynn's baptism. Alan dominated the
proceedings too much and this ending the end just seemed rather embarrassing
more than funny as it looked like a rushed ending.
It was a nice idea to include Marion & Geoff's Rob Brydon in a cameo then,
but once he'd become the butt of a retort from Alan once, there was no need to
do it twice more, getting more agressive each time. That really grated.
Then comes his speech which, when he tries to impress Tessa, but it not only
fails, it becomes embarrassing for us viewers to watch, once he's got at least
one good gag out of the way, "Lynn's Mum couldn't be here today because...
she'd dead. We didn't see eye to eye. There was a lot of bad blood... which,
coincidentally, was one of the complications she had at the end,"
After this it goes downhill and Coogan just rambles. It's doubly depressing
because you're waiting for a killer ending to the series which never transpires.
Perhaps if this scene had come in a different episode I could've felt more at
ease with it, but I was waiting for the final pay-off.
This episode also contains an anxiety flashback for Alan in which he's in
fat-suit mode, stuffing his face with Toblerone. Since this has only appeared
in the one episode, that also seemed like a rushed way of doing a 'lapdance'
flashback as occured throughout the last series, so it didn't quite sit right
here.
For each programme in this series I watched them once more, but it's weird
that it can take a second screening to make you feel more 'at home' with an
episode and comfortable with it, than many other comedy series. Perhaps it's
because there was a hell of a lot expected of this and it just hasn't delivered
by comparison to the last one.
Needless to say Messers Coogan, Baynham and Iannuuci had the last laugh...
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept
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This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
