Steve Coogan: 'I don't want to live with Alan but I do like to visit him'
5 hours ago Share Save Paul Glynn Culture reporter Share Save
BBC Alan Partridge is part of a British tradition of desperate male comedy characters which includes Captain Mainwaring, Basil Fawlty and David Brent
"Do you like my orange socks?" asks Steve Coogan. The British actor is pointing down to a brightly coloured, Argyle patterned pair, worn with brown leather sandals. "That's where Alan meets Steve," he adds. "In the socks." By Alan, of course, he is referring to his much-loved and often quoted comedy creation, Alan Partridge - the tactless, self-absorbed and self-styled presenter. The character first appeared as a sport reporter on the BBC Radio 4 parody news show On the Hour in 1991, with one unwitting listener writing in to say they had been "appalled" by his on-air behaviour. Since then he has gone on to have his own chat show, sitcom, film and podcast. Now, his 2025 return finds him funnily failing at fronting a self-funded TV documentary on mental health. Partridge, as Coogan reminds us, is like "every superficial" celebrity who just wants to have a public profile.
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