Over the past 20 years, Alan Partridge has grown into one of the most iconic fictional characters in British sitcom history — taking his place alongside Tony Hancock (“Hancock’s Half Hour”), Albert Steptoe (“Steptoe and Son”) and Basil Fawlty (“Fawlty Towers”).
Created and played by comedian Steve Coogan, Alan Partridge is a narcissistic buffoon first introduced to the British public as a clueless sportscaster on “The Day Today,” a satiric comedy show which aired on BBC2. The character proved so popular that Coogan spun Partridge off into “Knowing Me, Knowing You,” a BBC2 comedy series in which he hosted his own (really bad) BBC TV talk show. Two more series, “I’m Alan Partridge” and “Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge,” followed after that. They really can’t get enough of him over there.
American audiences will have their chance to meet Alan via his big-screen debut in “Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa.” Here’s why you should care:
1. Coogan created the character with Armando Iannucci — the mastermind behind HBO’s “Veep,” starring Emmy winner Julia Louis-Dreyfus.
2. Partridge’s ABBA obsession is like nothing you’ve seen. His TV show “Knowing Me, Knowing You,” his famous catchphrase (“A-ha!”) and his son’s name (Fernando) are all references to the band’s songs.
3. Who else has ever written about an addiction to Toblerone chocolate (while in the throes of a nervous breakdown)? Partridge did just that in a critically trashed memoir, “Bouncing Back” (thousands of copies of which were pulped when it failed to sell).
4. He’s unashamed to be a contrarian. On his love for Paul McCartney’s ’70s group, Wings: “They’re only the band the Beatles could have been.”
5. It’s British absurdity at its finest. Desperate to get back on the BBC, Partridge once pitched a show about “monkey tennis.”