Steve Coogan’s most popular character, Alan Partridge, and radio make an inseparable double act. Made notorious in I’m Alan Partridge (1997-2002), Alan’s on-air blunders from the broadcasting backwater Radio Norwich have become embedded in the public consciousness. To such an extent, where there are accounts on social media platforms reposting similar real life incidents, reported as “Accidental Partridgeisms”. However, this was not the first time that Coogan’s character and the wireless have crossed paths.
Origins
First coming to life as the sports reporter in the radio series On the Hour (1991-92), it was the spin off BBC Radio 4 series where the genesis of the Partridge we know, and love is formed. An oft forgotten piece of the Partridge cannon, the radio series Knowing Me, Knowing You operates in exactly the same format as the subsequent television series. Alan Partridge is in charge of a chat show, within 5 minutes he’s put his foot in it somehow. For the remaining half an hour, we enjoy Alan flailing around in the quicksand until the tide rolls in (metaphorically speaking).
Differences between radio and television
The main departure from its visual counterpart is that the magic happens between your ears. Clammy palm hilarity still very much intact, the listener can imagine the tortured facial expressions of the guests on the fictional chat show. As well as the inevitable look of a man who has had the behind fall from their trousers, when said guests inevitably turn on Mr Partridge. Certain flourishes of dialogue are also belly laugh inducing on audio, as you are solely paying attention to the actor’s delivery.
Similarities
The programme’s hit potential is also very much apparent in the radio series. When Alan locks horns with child prodigy Simon Fisher, encounters the delectably abhorrent Lord Morgan of Glossop and when Alan takes cocaine on live radio, we are gifted some of the finest Partridge content to date. It is a testament to the series quality (and writers Armando Iannucci, Steve Coogan, Rebecca Front et al) that they appear to have got it bang on from the start. As some ideas were later re-used in the television incarnation.
For example, Partridge’s ignorance around hypnotherapy is confirmed, when in one episode he declares he very much enjoyed seeing Tony Les Mesmer hypnotise grown men into behaving like dogs. Only for Alan’s adolescent hygiene to be bought into question when Alan is later hypnotised. In the television series of Knowing Me, Knowing You we get to meet the titular Tony (played by David Schneider) who inevitably makes a fool of Alan through hypnotism, a good idea once is always a good idea.
Conclusion
On that bombshell, it is unlikely that this particular incarnation of Alan Partridge will return to the airwaves. Rightfully, the character continues to evolve currently seeping into the world of podcasts. However, these 6 episodes of “early Alan” are a slice of comedic gold, a hidden gem for fans of the character.
