This Time with Alan Partridge series 2

[pigamus]

this inspired a thought on evolution and growth

• 90s Alan would be scared of the idea of WAP because it's the future and he's not finding out before everyone else
• 00s Alan would have used mobile internet casually, but need to bring up his knowledge and opinion to assert himself whenever there's a chance
• 10s Alan would have mentioned WAP at a production meeting, and patiently let the rest of the team work out what his opinion was all along

I too would like to see Alan talking about WAP, for I fear it may lead to rich comic misunderstanding

[Magnum Valentino]

Is there a consensus that the Gibbons brothers aren't as good at writing Partridge with Coogan as Iannucci and Baynham were? I haven't seen all of the Partridge stuff since I'm Alan Partridge came out but the stuff I've seen has always been at best just ok, generally. Is it more of a case that we should just be grateful that there's any Alan Partridge at all since Iannucci and Baynham have moved on to other things?

No, I don't think so. The Gibbons/Coogan trio is extremely popular on here. I think the first audiobook, both series of MMM and Oasthouse are as good and often better than the Baynham and Armando years.

I think the Gibbons' problem is they're given to being weird for the sake of it - the dummy at the window, the Easter episode and so on. It feels a bit off, try hard, studenty or something.

I think the "mistakes" in This Time fall into this category. Peppering already-good material with audible public heckling is too distracting. They don't need such gimmickry in my opinion.

[Poison To The Mind]

No: they wrote I, Partridge, Scissored Isle, Welcome To The Places of My Life, and From The Oasthouse. By weight, they've written more top-level Alan than Ianucci did or that Baynham has ever dreamt of.

[cacciaguida]

Did anyone see the trailer get an airing at half-time in the FA Cup Semi yesterday?

Gary Lineker gave a wry / smug "they've given him a second series!"

I really wanted to fire back (quick as a flash) "OK then what's his middle name if you're such a fan? How much younger is his gf and what's her name? What did guests get in their fun packs?"

Pathetic response from me, really. I also genuinely think he's a good anchor and actually has a lot of interesting things to say on the art of goalscoring when given a chance, but middle-of-the-road bland corporate shills like him don't get to like the same comedy I like. It might seem unreasonable, but life's unreasonable at times.

[Ferris]

Gordon; 13 years (?); danko nightstick, vodka miniature, digital watch (with denim strap), copy of the Sunday express. Might have missed an item or two there.

Anyway, could Linekar do that? On the spot? Fucking doubt it mate.

[Sonny_Jim]

Pathetic response from me, really. I also genuinely think he's a good anchor and actually has a lot of interesting things to say on the art of goalscoring when given a chance, but middle-of-the-road bland corporate shills like him don't get to like the same comedy I like. It might seem unreasonable, but life's unreasonable at times.

Is he not allowed to enjoy comedy, especially the kind that skewers his exact position within the media?  But yeah I get it, it feels like your secret joke is no longer a secret anymore.

Thinking of which, just imagine if they started doing real celeb cameos, rather than the fake/unseen celebs they usually do.  Alan at the petrol station buying a Yorkie and 20L of premium unleaded, only to have Gary Lineker(!) walk through the door and Alan goes all a bit starstruck.  It'd be shit.  As far as I remember, even during the comic relief stuff where it would be very easy to have Alan interact with actual celebs they avoided it.

[DrGreggles]

Gordon; 13 years (?); danko nightstick, vodka miniature, digital watch (with denim strap), copy of the Sunday express. Might have missed an item or two there.

Anyway, could Linekar do that? On the spot? Fucking doubt it mate.

Yeah, but have you ever shat on the pitch during a World Cup match?

[St_Eddie]

As far as I remember, even during the comic relief stuff where it would be very easy to have Alan interact with actual celebs they avoided it.

Hmm...

Not quite.

[Sonny_Jim]

Ah shit, I've made myself look like a proper wazzock.  I'd forgotten he'd done those interviews.  Wasn't there a Roger Dawltry one as well?

[BeardFaceMan]

There was, although the Daltrey interview wasn't for Comic Relief. And Emily Maitlis appeared in This Time too. And Monty Don. They did used to try and keep Alan away from real celebs though, unless it was charity sketches, Brit Awards etc. Wouldn't suprise me if the use of real celebs in This Time came from the BBC influence on the show.

[Chedney Honks]

I didn't enjoy series one besides a few scattered gags and lines. Too much hostility, too little credibility, too many longueurs, too many self-conscious weird Gibbons lines, not enough warmth, very weak supporting players and ultimately just not funny enough to mask the flaws.

I will watch this with low expectations, which is probably the best way to approach it, but I hope it's a significant improvement.

I suspect that would make it the first ever Partridge work which improved on the first attempt, excluding TDT.

KMKYWAP
IAP
AUDIOBOOK
MMM
DOCUMENTARY STYLE SHOW

[paruses]

Is he not allowed to enjoy comedy, especially the kind that skewers his exact position within the media?  But yeah I get it, it feels like your secret joke is no longer a secret anymore.

Thinking of which, just imagine if they started doing real celeb cameos, rather than the fake/unseen celebs they usually do.  Alan at the petrol station buying a Yorkie and 20L of premium unleaded, only to have Gary Lineker(!) walk through the door and Alan goes all a bit starstruck.  It'd be shit.  As far as I remember, even during the comic relief stuff where it would be very easy to have Alan interact with actual celebs they avoided it.

I don't like Alan meeting real world celebs/names. Emily Maitliss was actually OK because - bordering on  Acting but I think managed it. But I didn't like that bit anyway just as for me the Jokes were the worst bit in This Time which I liked and as series that for me got better with each watching, like an Andy McNabb novel (one for the proper fans there).

I have never really enjoyed the celeb interviews and I think it's because the celebs come across thinking they're as funny as the canon material by being involved. The Richard Bacon interview sticks in my mind in particular. I think Clive Anderson managed it OK because he's such a pompous prick at heart (in a nice way, and I do like him).

[Echo Valley 2-6809]

That's the wine lady from MMM too, isn't it? I do love a bit of continuity, one of the reasons Partridge is so good.

She also doubled as a book reviewer, talking about Wild Swans by Jung Chang. One of my favourite sight gags there, where you can see Alan's copy of The Wild Geese on the side before he admits he's read the wrong book.

More reality nitpicking, but I'm not sure it makes sense for the same character (if she is) to turn up on a national TV show after being an unqualified guest on a small digital radio station - or to still be cringe-reacting a bit too obviously to Alan's weirdness as if she didn't already know what he was like.

[Magnum Valentino]

Same with Simon though really

[Ferris]

She also doubled as a book reviewer, talking about Wild Swans by Jung Chang. One of my favourite sight gags there, where you can see Alan's copy of The Wild Geese on the side before he admits he's read the wrong book.

More reality nitpicking, but I'm not sure it makes sense for the same character (if she is) to turn up on a national TV show after being an unqualified guest on a small digital radio station - or to still be cringe-reacting a bit too obviously to Alan's weirdness as if she didn't already know what he was like.

He's done a Joe beezley/cheeky monkey and brought her along with him.

[BeardFaceMan]

She also doubled as a book reviewer, talking about Wild Swans by Jung Chang. One of my favourite sight gags there, where you can see Alan's copy of The Wild Geese on the side before he admits he's read the wrong book.

More reality nitpicking, but I'm not sure it makes sense for the same character (if she is) to turn up on a national TV show after being an unqualified guest on a small digital radio station - or to still be cringe-reacting a bit too obviously to Alan's weirdness as if she didn't already know what he was like.

I shouldn't bite, but it would make as much sense as a host on a small digital radio station being selected to present a prime time BBC show after not working there for 25 years after killing a man live on air. But, y'know.

[checkoutgirl]

I know it divided opinion

Really? I did not know that.

[paruses]

With the wine/book lady isn't it just that that at a small digital station people do several jobs and grab what they can? That almost seems part of the joke. Can't remember if the character's name(s) changes though.

The Wild Geese is a brilliant underplayed gag. Him slowly replacing the book after saying how amazing it is makes me laugh just thinking about it.

[Avril Lavigne]

With the wine/book lady isn't it just that that at a small digital station people do several jobs and grab what they can? That almost seems part of the joke. Can't remember if the character's name(s) changes though.

She does have the same name and when Alan introduces her on the book club segment he says that she's the resident wine expert and she's filling in for someone else.

[Ja'moke]

She does have the same name and when Alan introduces her on the book club segment he says that she's the resident wine expert and she's filling in for someone else.

"Did you bring any wine?... Good girl!"

I've been rewatching Mid Morning Matters again recently and I think it might be my favorite Partridge thing of them all.

[pigamus]

First series is amazing. Never been sold on the second but I'm in the minority there I think.

[dr beat]

Yeah, but have you ever shat on the pitch during a World Cup match?

But could he do that on a wet Wednesday night in Stoke?

[Echo Valley 2-6809]

Same with Simon though really

Yes, I agree. It doesn't spoil my enjoyment but Partridge wouldn't have had the clout to insist on Simon and Rosie being on the show.
It's at least an issue worth mentioning if they're upping the stakes back again to national telly, trying to pastiche something like The One Show when it doesn't quite feel like they're nailing it yet, as if it's MMM dropped into a massive studio.

I shouldn't bite, but it would make as much sense as a host on a small digital radio station being selected to present a prime time BBC show after not working there for 25 years after killing a man live on air. But, y'know.

Of course, but I could believe at the time that he'd shot someone on air. I don't watch a new Partridge and think, how is this guy still working?

[petril]

It seems just really plausible that the KMKYWAP shooting incident's been covered to death, everyone knows Alan was there but not really to blame, and that Forbes McAllister made his life just being an unpleasant cunt to everyone anyway. Not water under the bridge, just kind of accepted. Alan's career's wrecked for 20-odd years, that's plenty of penance too, I can buy everyone in canon being sort of cigs about him being on the Beeb again

[Gurke and Hare]

If we're going down this road, his career should pretty much have been over after hitting a child live on air shortly after being promoted from being the sports guy.

[thecuriousorange]

I don't know how he didn't twig that the laughing man in the hotel lift was the drag queen Fanny from Knowing Me Knowing Yule.

[Uncle TechTip]

Edmonds returned to primetime after just two years.

[Avril Lavigne]

I don't know how he didn't twig that the laughing man in the hotel lift was the drag queen Fanny from Knowing Me Knowing Yule.

Or that the audience laughed at everything he said that was intended to be taken seriously during the entirety of Knowing Me Knowing You.

[purlieu]

If we're doing in-universe continuity, how was Alan Partridge the person picked to be a replacement presenter on a nationally broadcast BBC magazine programme? There are so many people with a history of competent TV presentation who would have been higher up on the list than him.

Career-wise, the rise and fall of TV Alan, from sports desk news anchor to wannabe chat show host with occasional other TV spots, to local radio presenter, and eventually local digital radio presenter works really well, and everything since then has basically been nonsense. It's not a huge issue, because it's produced some of the funniest Partridge material, and added a lot to his character, but it doesn't hold up to much scrutiny. While there have certainly been forgotten TV presenters who've had sudden comebacks for one reason or another, Alan's time in the limelight was very, very short, and certainly not enough that he'd go from being a North Norfolk Digital DJ to suddenly having a published autobiography and a TV spot promoting it, getting documentary programmes commissioned, and ending up hosting a prime time TV show.

[TheMonk]

I shouldn't bite, but it would make as much sense as a host on a small digital radio station being selected to present a prime time BBC show after not working there for 25 years after killing a man live on air. But, y'know.

Agrees this seems plausible these days though. Edmonds has had his fair share of comebacks, yes.
In Australia the Edmonds equivalent Daryl Somers has just turned up for another comeback after effectively being cancelled for a blackface controversy.
Nothing surprises in TV.