Alan Partridge

When On The Hour made the leap to TV in 1994 as The Day Today, it was a foregone conclusion that Alan would remain integral. On TV, he quickly formed legions of sports fans for his USA ’94 coverage (“liquid football” immediately entered the lexicon of football commentators the world over), his eagle-eyed spotting of cheating at the Tour de France and his natty blazer and tie combos.

It wasn’t long before the BBC identified him as a diamond among coals and plucked him from The Day Today to host his own show. Replete with his snappy catchphrase (One, two, three…“Aha!”), Alan stepped into the TV chat show circuit like a natural, hosting the gold standard of the format with the televised version of Knowing Me, Knowing You With Alan Partridge. Guests ranged from culinary icon Philippe Lambert to Mick Hucknall.

Alas, Knowing Me, Knowing You proved too far ahead of its time and was cancelled after one season. Newly divorced and discarded, Alan confronted his own humanity in the fly-on-the-wall documentary I’m Alan Partridge, which found the great man rebuilding his career from a Travel Tavern in Linton. Stunningly brilliant concepts such as Monkey Tennis and A Partridge Amongst The Pigeons fell by the wayside due to complicated relationships with BBC top brass, until Radio Norwich took a gamble on the maverick host. Alan also published his award-winning memoir I, Partridge: We Need To Talk About Alan in 2011.

Radio Norwich became North Norfolk Digital, the digital landscape prompting Alan’s return to the limelight with the acclaimed show Mid Morning Matters. After a hostage situation at the station, depicted in the Oscar-worthy Alpha Papa, his co-host (secondary host) Sidekick Simon departed the show to join Bedtime With Branning, while Alan teamed up with a new short-lived (but lovely) co-host Zoe.

Following the success of Mid Morning Matters, Alan was in much demand. His first move was to take viewers on a guided tour of the Broads in Alan Partridge: Welcome To The Places Of My Life. The unparalleled success of this new venture paved the way to a return to primetime television on This Time With Alan Partridge, which saw Alan once again take to a new format and show the others how it’s done.

Once again a household name, Alan Partridge made the welcome decision to embrace his audience in person (although not physically, because, you know…). In May 2021, Partridge announced a UK tour, set to bring fans face to face with their hero (albeit with heavy security in between) from April 2022.