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When writer/producer Armando Iannucci asked comedian Steve Coogan to
improvise a generic sport reporter for Radio 4 news spoof On the Hour (1991),
little did either realise what they'd started. The pair subsequently developed
the character in spoof chat show Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge
(1992-93), again for Radio 4, revealing more about the Norwich-based
broadcaster's ultimate ambition to become a television star.
Partridge made his small-screen debut as the inept sport correspondent of The
Day Today (BBC, 1994), the ground-breaking spin-off from On the Hour, before
finally securing his dream job. The TV adaptation of Knowing Me... parodied the
kind of light-entertainment chat show that had all but expired by the mid-1990s,
but its satirical targets were clear. Partridge's hubris, banality and ersatz
chumminess were never intended to parody any particular media personality, but
he was an instantly recognisable type nonetheless.
But more than being simply an attack on the chat show genre or on egregious
TV presenters, Knowing Me... was a showcase for a generation of
writer/performers rapidly emerging as the new doyens of comedy. Coogan, fresh
from the Paul Calf Video Diaries (BBC, 1993-94), was establishing himself as a
leading character comedian, and he submerged himself completely beneath
Partridge's asinine tics, rampant narcissism and barely concealed desperation.
Partridge hosted from a shiny-floored studio set, from which he would deliver
a tortuously pun-laden monologue, endure stilted banter with his band leader,
and clumsily insult his guests. The central joke of a chat show being hosted by
someone so utterly unqualified for the role was inspired.
The series climaxed with Partridge accidentally shooting a guest dead,
leaving his television career in tatters, but he returned to the chat show
format with the festive special Knowing Me Knowing Yule with Alan Partridge (tx.
29/12/1995), in which he sealed his fate by attacking the BBC's commissioning
editor with a frozen turkey.
The attention to detail that typifies Coogan's work was arguably compromised
by the studio audience being in on the gag, as well as having almost all of
Partridge's fictional guests played by the same recurring cast. But with the
standard of material and performances so high, such a minor deficiency is easily excused.
Coogan and Iannucci would drag Partridge into ever more excruciating
backwaters in the quasi-naturalistic sitcom I'm Alan Partridge (BBC, 1997-2002),
securing his position as one of British comedy's most iconic
creations.
Paul Whitelaw
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1. A couple of ponces (2:12)
