Alan Partridge - Big Beacon (New Book)

[BritishHobo]

Does he explain why they were so unprepared to begin with? There'd been years of chat about a possible Partridge film, mad that they would end up rushing into it without a proper idea of what they were doing.

He gives the impression that it was by design; that he wanted to keep the script as loose as possible so that if they came up with a great joke on the day, they could easily fit it in there without having to completely overhaul what they were doing. But it sounds like the result of this was the cast spending time learning their lines, only to come in each day and be handed scenes that were heavily rewritten.

[QDRPHNC]

tbf, having questions about the backstory of a character whose purpose is to be on screen for about 15 minutes total and be annoyed/frustrated with Alan does sound like it would be irritating.

He gives the impression that it was by design; that he wanted to keep the script as loose as possible

... so it was a very organic process.

[Glebe]

Yeah IAP2 is a little scrappy but there are still gems in there; think we can all agree that Alan's first encounter with Dan in particular is a Partridge greatest hits moment, and 'Bono' is particularly "faine"!

[QDRPHNC]

It has its moments. My favourite from the Bono meeting is "I forgot, you're not Bono."

[Milo]

Listening again and Alan's bout of legislative combat about the party is absolute joy.

[neveragain]

Yeah IAP2 is a little scrappy but there are still gems in there; think we can all agree that Alan's first encounter with Dan in particular is a Partridge greatest hits moment, and 'Bono' is particularly "faine"!

Also, "pierced my foot on a spiiiiiike" and the resulting presentation.
(I also think the whole of the Dan episode is strong.)

[kalowski]

Also, "pierced my foot on a spiiiiiike" and the resulting presentation.

Some of the greatest comedy ever written.
"Don't shine that torch in my face, mate. I've just lost a pint of blood."

[Proactive]

Ooooooh, it's a good paper.

[DigForVictory]

Does he explain why they were so unprepared to begin with? There'd been years of chat about a possible Partridge film, mad that they would end up rushing into it without a proper idea of what they were doing.

From what I remember I think originally he thought Baynham and Iannucci would be much more involved in the entire project and as they'd always sort of flown by the seat of their pants and it turned out great he thought it would be fine.

Then he gradually realised pretty late on that neither Iannucci or Baynham were going to contribute much, it was something like both could only be there for filming for a day or something mad and it was just going to be him and the Gibbons.

I also think he'd just finished filming Philomena and then was straight to filming Alpha Papa so he was a bit frazzled himself. It really is remarkable it wasn't a David Brent film style total disaster.

[dr beat]

Yes, also from what I recall, the original plot for the film was to have Alan caught up in a terrorist plot involving an Al-Qaeda (or wannabe AQ) gang.  But they shelved that idea at quite a late stage.

[Harry Badger]

I must say, I never knew how troubled the production of Alpha Papa was until much longer after I'd seen it. Whilst it isn't exactly top of the (pear)tree, and probably went a little too far into broad slapstick and gross-out, I remember enjoying it greatly and so did the audience I saw it with. The only issues I had with it were the same as with just about any feature-length sitcom adaptation.

[DigForVictory]

Yeah I thought it was nowhere near the best of Alan, and to be fair my favourite Alan is when it's very low stakes and small so it was always going to be unlikely it was the best stuff,  but it was still good with some great moments.

By British tv comedy making the transition to films standards it was an outstanding triumph.

[Lemming]

Alpha Papa is what it is, but the extraordinarily inaccurate retelling of it in Nomad more than justifies its existence.

Sidekick Simon "clobbering himself with a fire extinguisher in a desperate bid to achieve unconsciousness - anything to take the fear away", and the other men in the room "packing heat - if you accept packing heat as a metaphor for shitting your pants"

[kalowski]

Alpha Papa is worth it just for the bit where the guy says,"Achtung," and Alan says, "Silence!" and slaps his face.

Edit: even better - Alan says "Achtung" and the guy just says "Guten Tag"

[notjosh]

Was trying to remember my opinion of the film and then remembered I wrote a review of it at the time, so you can read that if you like.

Spoiler alert

Alan Partridge is little short of a cultural phenomenon, having transitioned between radio, television, print and podcasts with an ease that few other fictional creations can match. (We've seen plenty of incarnations of Superman - but honestly, who'd read his autobiography?). After such a distinguished broadcasting career it was inevitable that the character be allowed the run of a cinema screen at least once. But could Steve Coogan make the jump without sacrificing the essential 'Alan-ness' of the character?

Alpha Papa picks up where web-series Mid Morning Matters left off, with Alan in his element as a purveyor of light-chat and eighties rock on North Norfolk Digital. He is initially unfazed when an international media conglomerate rebrands the station as Shape, but sacked late-night DJ Pat Farrell (Colm Meaney) does not take things so well, and returns with rifle in hand to take the station hostage. Partridge reluctantly agrees to act as a negotiator, becoming the face of the siege and finding himself in the public eye once more.

Writers Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Peter Baynham and Neil & Rob Gibbons were keen to avoid the TV spin-off cliché that would have been 'Partridge in America' so the siege storyline seems shrewd, being both dramatic and small in scale - a perfect way to probe deep into Partridge without losing sight of the character's quintessential small-mindedness.  Like characters in a sitcom, the hostages are trapped together, and the presence of a disillusioned madman with a gun ought to play to Partridge's strengths; the character is at his best when walking the tightrope between comedy and tragedy.

Unfortunately the film feels a little muddled, not allowing the situation to develop organically, to leave Partridge's essential vanity and incompetence to drive the plot forward on their own. The rhythms of big-screen comedy are sometimes ill-suited to Alan's rambling and trivial asides, with would-be dramatic scenes punctuated by meandering dialogue, and moments of slapstick (i.e. his arse) badly shoe-horned in.

It's neither a broad parody of Hollywood excess nor an outright rejection of it. Instead it ambles along on an unsatisfying middle ground, with awkward attempts to subvert big screen clichés, but without seeming exactly sure what those are. The film-makers lack the cine-literacy displayed by a team such as Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, who are able to deliver mock-Blockbuster moments while also undercutting them with British parochialism.

Of course the success of the film large hangs on Coogan's portrayal of Partridge, and in that respect it doesn't disappoint. The character has been de-aged since I'm Alan Partridge, the make-up peeled back, but Coogan is so effortless in slipping into the character, his facial expressions and tics so well-defined, that it's almost impossible to look at Coogan's face and see anyone other than Partridge.

It's not surprising then that the film's best moments are when Alan is allowed to do what he does best: delivering music and chat for the North Norfolk Generation. The sequences when he broadcasts live from the siege with Sidekick Simon (Tim Key) and kidnapper Farrell remind us just how funny and Partridge-appropriate the Mid Morning Matters shorts really were.

This is the Partridge at his best, raw, unfiltered, and unhurried by plot machinations. After all, what good is a shoot-out if it prevents Alan from asking the really important questions: Which is the best condiment? Have you ever met an intelligent bus driver? And which is the worst monger - "fish, iron, rumour or war?"

That's Alan Partridge.

[close]

Don't think I've seen the film since, and I imagine I'd enjoy it more with lower expectations. But certainly a big missed opportunity.

[Mr Trumpet]

Here's a quiz question: what connects Alpha Papa, The Truman Show and Notes on a Scandal?

[dontpaintyourteeth]

Without googling anything (never seen the Truman show) is it philip glass

[Mr Trumpet]

Without googling anything (never seen the Truman show) is it philip glass

Spoiler alert

Yes

[close]

Also The Truman Show is really quite good, Peter Weir almost manages to constrain Jim Carrey's mugging.

[Menu]

Keep meaning to ask about this: On the audio version, Alan announces there's a Foreword, read and written by Grant Schapps. But then, all there's only a period of silence before Alan himself starts reading his co-written version of The Ryme of the Ancient Mariner. Is there some obvious joke I'm missing? Is there a Schapps Foreword in the non-audio version?

BTW I love all the meandering before the book even starts. There's also a Letter from the Author.

[Menu]

Also just realised his late dog is called Selden. Not Seldom. Makes more sense. Selden is a place in Norfolk. Seldom is just a bad name to call a dog. But that had become one of my long-running questions about the ever-widening Alan/Gibbonseses mythology. Still doesn't explain what was going on with naming his house after his sidekick though.

[jobotic]

Selden? Fuck me.

[Menu]

Selden? Fuck me.

Seems obvious now doesn't it?

[Cold Meat Platter]

no.

[jobotic]

Yeah I'm sure that when he shouts the dog's name he emphasises the muh

[Captain Z]

On my second listen and had forgotten how brilliant the whole Richard Keys/Andy Gray chapter is. An amazingly credible addition to the AP universe, and in reality two deserving targets who ultimately couldn't have too many complaints about their portrayal.

[Mobius]

Maybe it's actually Dontem House

[daf]

Keep meaning to ask about this: On the audio version, Alan announces there's a Foreword, read and written by Grant Schapps. But then, all there's only a period of silence before Alan himself starts reading his co-written version of The Ryme of the Ancient Mariner. Is there some obvious joke I'm missing? Is there a Schapps Foreword in the non-audio version?

BTW I love all the meandering before the book even starts. There's also a Letter from the Author.

The legendary Schapps foreword is indeed included in the book version and it is GOLD!

Spoiler alert

Only joking - no sign of it other than a mention on the title page.

[close]

[Maurice Yeatman]

Yeah I'm sure that when he shouts the dog's name he emphasises the muh

It's a joke based on one version of a famous proverb - A barking dog seldom bites https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/barking_dogs_seldom_bite

(Often 'A barking dog never bites', but Never wouldn't work as well.)

[Menu]

It's a joke based on one version of a famous proverb - A barking dog seldom bites https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/barking_dogs_seldom_bite

(Often 'A barking dog never bites', but Never wouldn't work as well.)

Has this been mentioned anywhere in the, er, oeuvre?

[Maurice Yeatman]

Don't think so, although I haven't read Big Beacon yet.

You're undermining my confidence a bit now. My uncle used the phrase when I was a nipper and shit-scared of his pet yapster, so maybe I'm seeing a joke that isn't actually there.