Oft-forgotten gems from the Alan Partridge canon

[Thomas]

I think in the book Alan said he was born in 1955, making him 58 in Alpha Papa, which didn't seem right...

That's open to debate but he looks there or there abouts for sure.

In Alpha Papa, at 58, he's supposed to be as old as Morrissey is now. Seems about right to me. Pierce Brosnan is 64, and he looks like he could still dangle out of a window or jog through a radio studio.

It's just as he's about to pierce his foot that he reprimands Lynn for saying that he's 'nearly fifty', isn't it? That was in 2002, so it all fits.

Aside from the surreality of the world in On the Hour and The Day Today, and the promotional material surrounding I'm Alan Partridge (which briefly pretended that the series was a documentary, probably so Coogan could appear as Alan to promote it - same with Alpha Papa when he attended the premiere), they've done an admirable job of continuity. 

[BeardFaceMan]

I think the only misstep they've done with Partridge is they went a bit too heavy on the ageing make up in IAP S2, it took a while to adjust to how he looked from MMM onwards because he looked so old previously. Other than that the continuity for Partridge has been bang on.

[mrpupkin]

From Alpha Papa: "I'm 55 years old, I should be at home in bed watching funny videos on Youtube"

[Thomas]

I think the only misstep they've done with Partridge is they went a bit too heavy on the ageing make up in IAP S2, it took a while to adjust to how he looked from MMM onwards because he looked so old previously. Other than that the continuity for Partridge has been bang on.

We could blame that on the stress of his breakdown and rapid weight loss. I also wouldn't put it past Alan to have had a bit of work done since then. The wig they use for him is certainly thicker and more luxurious than in IAP.

[checkoutgirl]

they've done an admirable job of continuity

Spanning what, 26 years. It's a remarkable feat in continuity and quality writing. Any negative criticism of it seems very nitpicky.

[Dr Rock]

Alan may well have had some work done. Even just a facelift. Pretty sure Madeley and Edmunds have.

[Captain Z]

Spanning what, 26 years. It's a remarkable feat in continuity and quality writing. Any negative criticism of it seems very nitpicky.

Even the retrospective continuity (mentioned on a previous page, but worth repeating), where it is revealed in IP:WNTTAA that his 'debagging' in a Comic Relief sketch between S1 and S2 of IAP was the trigger for his breakdown, and to a lesser extent his introduction to Toblerones by Pepsi or Shirlie from Pepsi and Shirlie, is incredibly well thought-out.

Ok that second one isn't really continuity, but shows a very high commitment to accurate backstory.

[BeardFaceMan]

Considering the amount of Partridge stuff out there, their dedication to the continuity is amazing,  I really wish more people gave enough of a fuck about their past work to not dismiss it but use it in a new way. Contrast this with something like Red Dwarf (which I've been rewatching lately) where the writers never let continuity get in the way of a gag they've just thought of, far better to just go with it than worry about what you've written previously. Good continuity shows that you care about the characters, that you're building something, creating actual characters with back stories that make sense, rather than just using the characters as a vessel to tell your gags, whether they fit the character or not.

[QDRPHNC]

Best bit of the pierced foot scene is lost underneath the audience laughter, he reacts to Lynn telling him to take his foot off the spike by saying "then all the blood will run out of my foot, you old mess". "You old mess" is a fantastic insult.

Also love the "you take your foot off / my foot's not on a spike" exchange there.

[asids]

Also love the "you take your foot off / my foot's not on a spike" exchange there.

"You're just quoting bits of Casualty now!"

[SteK]

For some reason this jumped into my head;

Lynn's a good worker but she's a bit like Burt Reynolds; very reliable, but she's got a moustache....

[checkoutgirl]

Soleros, Magnums, Mini Milks and a Feast.

[3S96]

It's not strictly Partridge canon (well, it is, but it's from The Day Today) but his entire report from Marple is excellent, especially the names of the horses: Onion Terror, Zeinab Badawi's Twenty Hotels, Epileptic Fridge Boy, Small Town Gypsy Massacre and Trust Me, I'm a Stomach, will never not make me laugh.

However, it's his hope that two girls playing won't "escalate into blind, ugly violence" that always stays with me. That phrase pops into my head at least once a week. I say it out loud occasionally, but no-one has yet commented on its Partridgian origins.

[St_Eddie]

...his entire report from Marple is excellent, especially the names of the horses: Onion Terror, Zeinab Badawi's Twenty Hotels, Epileptic Fridge Boy, Small Town Gypsy Massacre and Trust Me, I'm a Stomach...

Epileptic is a better man/horse than you or I will ever be.  Shame him at your peril.  That's all I'm saying.

[Tikwid]

It's not strictly Partridge canon (well, it is, but it's from The Day Today) but his entire report from Marple is excellent

I always thought Alan's weird "let him lie in it. let him lie in it!" aside at the start of the jockey interview was pretty funny, but rewatching it the other day I only just noticed Chris doesn't even get to finish his link in, and just trails off awkwardly as Alan interrupts. "Back to today's races; Alan Partridge is at the, erm......hm." That's what I love so much about the AP canon: there's great little details you only notice on your second viewing, and then there's even greater and littler ones you don't notice til your tenth.

[non capisco]

It's not strictly Partridge canon (well, it is, but it's from The Day Today) but his entire report from Marple is excellent, especially the names of the horses: Onion Terror, Zeinab Badawi's Twenty Hotels, Epileptic Fridge Boy, Small Town Gypsy Massacre and Trust Me, I'm a Stomach, will never not make me laugh.

However, it's his hope that two girls playing won't "escalate into blind, ugly violence" that always stays with me. That phrase pops into my head at least once a week. I say it out loud occasionally, but no-one has yet commented on its Partridgian origins.

"Not sure what that is...I hope it's not a..hur hur..a dead horse! They're not going to fit it in the back of a Volvo 340."

The joy of that sequence is that it's most probably Coogan improvising as Partridge over the top of some stock BBC horse event footage. "Altogether a better class of...fat lady." And the way he gleefully says "Two Headed Sex Beast" is sublime.

[kalowski]

The interview with the show jumper has me shaking with laughter.

"If he gives you any trouble you can ride me round the paddock "

[non capisco]

"I've just realised, I've been slagging off Buddhists. We might get a fatwa on our heads."
"Erm...they're not Muslims."
"Oh, yes of course!"
"Buddhists can't do anything. You can punch a Buddhist and they can't punch back."
"That's like Mickey Mouse at Eurodisney. Although if he gets you in the car park afterwards he will leather you."

[non capisco]

"And now from a chillout compilation I found at a boot sale. It's fantastic! This...is Glockenspiel Dreams."

Yes, I'm rewatching Mid Morning Matters series 2.

[Autopsy Turvey]

"The cracker is five feet high, the height of a large cow, and 23 feet long, that's about the length of a small Chinese restaurant."

[to infect aside]

Pronunciation of 'whey' in the footnote about protein shake ingredients, near the beginning of the audiobook version of Nomad.

[Ornlu]

"unfortunately Michael, we live in a world where people would rather watch clips of idiots driving cars like maniacs into berks."

[bgmnts]

Second this, but listen to the audiobook, retold by Partridge himself!

[ColinPopshed]

However, it's his hope that two girls playing won't "escalate into blind, ugly violence" that always stays with me.

I still remember sitting my mate down to that ep of TDT in 1994. Our humor was so similar but he wasn't going for it, until that line when he erupted with laughter and was completely hooked into it from that point.

[ColinPopshed]

Something which stuck with me from Nomad, was when he is in a shop "buying 2 Magnums... Magna".

[magval]

After Morris says "Handy with a mallet", Alan replies "I certainly think I could use weaponry". A great wee disjointed interaction.

[Malcy]

Back of the net!

https://twitter.com/AccidentalP/status/982900609820086272

[Mobius]

Back of the net!

https://twitter.com/AccidentalP/status/982900609820086272

Hahaha.

In I, Partridge it's revealed that Schofield and Alan actually worked together early in their career at the in-store radio station of Our Price, and Schofield was relentlessly bullied so we know where he picked those habits up..

[Bronzy]

"And a bag of Minstrels"

"Oooooh!"

[St_Eddie]

Back of the net!

https://twitter.com/AccidentalP/status/982900609820086272

That's wonderful!  The cutaway to her disapproving and insulted face is pure gold.

"And a bag of Minstrels"

"Oooooh!"

Heh.  That's a favourite of mine.