I'm Alan Partridge : Complete BBC Series 1 [1997]

The script is brilliant, particularly the moments when Alan Partridge's fascination with the, erm, more bizarre aspects of human life clash with his narrow and secluded view of the world. There isn't a bad episode amongst the six - and Watership Alan and To Kill A Mocking Alan are 2 of the funniest half hours ever to grace TV.

Even more importantly, the BBC seem to have finally got the hang of the DVD format - this one is brilliant, from the clever menus on both discs, through excellent commentaries, deleted scenes and so on on the second disc. The series alone would have been excellent value at the price - the added material just wraps it all up with a big bow.

Excellent stuff. Better than the second series? Who knows, who cares. When that's released it'll be in my collection as well as the first, and they should both be in yours too.


Unbearable, but totally compulsive.   September 24, 2001
F. Webster (London, UK)
19 out of 23 found this review helpful

Alan Partridge is undoubtedly one of the finest comic creations of the last few years. A patent loser, unable to come to terms with the waining of his own minor celebrity, the follow-up series to the wonderfully cringing 'Knowing me, Knowing you' sees our anti-hero spending several months in a 'travel tavern', attempting to resurrect his media career, which has dropped to depths of DJ on a local radio graveyard shift. The Partridge world-view is expounded through beautifully written dialogue, which at times is so perfectly spot-on as to make it almost unwatchable. Cringe as Alan vents his spleen on any number of topics, brown-noses those in authority, bullies those perceived as below him, and creates revulsion in all around him. Coogan has created a real monster, on which he plays with extraordinary conviction and peverse affection. Though at times slapstick masks the true importance of minor asides, listen carefully for hidden dialogue gems; throw-away lines which make this series endlessly fascinating, and endlessly quotable. Far above the usual over-rated British sitcom, such as the deplorable 'Only Fools and Horses', this will quickly pass into the accepted canon of British comedy classics. Cult viewing that remains fresh for years.


Stevie Coogan - English comedy at its best   September 7, 2001
16 out of 19 found this review helpful

Alan Partridge - arguably one of the all time great characters of English comedy and certainly one of the best of the 1990's. This complete second series by the comic genius Steve Coogan follows the life of Alan Partridge following his lay off from the BBC and is honestly the most ridiculously funny set of sketches that I have ever seen. If you want laughs then Coogan will never disappoint and this is him at the peak of his career. I doubt any Coogan fan can't remember the classic scene (from this series) in which Partridge screams 'Smell my cheese, you mother' with a huge block of cheese on a stick. This DVD set will have you laughing for hours as you experience not only Partridge but other unmissable characters who bond together to make an excellent overall production. This is a very worthy buy if classic English comedy is something you enjoy and remember - you'll be watching and laughing for years to come.


The Remains of the Alan   November 29, 2002
John Self (Belfast, NI)
14 out of 14 found this review helpful

Sentient beings everywhere will need no introduction to the moribund world of the anchor (rhyming slang) of Norwich FM's graveyard slot, "Up With the Partridge," or the reasons why he's tragicomic on a level never seen before on TV: "I don't want salvation ... I just want to be able to say - 'I'm Alan Partridge - join me tonight when my guests will be, I dunno, Chris Rea...'"

So you already know that "I'm Alan Partridge" is far superior to established classics like "Fawlty Towers" and "Blackadder," in that it shares with those programmes an absolutely fastidious attention to detail and density of jokes, but mixes in far more pathos and depth than they ever did. The only comparison has been, of course, David Brent in "The Office," which came later and also favours curling toes over laughing bellies, whereas Partridge blends the two to perfection.

The series was released on DVD before, but then withdrawn over the unauthorised inclusion of Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi." That was a blessing in disguise, as the BBC has now taken the opportunity to give "I'm Alan Partridge" the deluxe DVD treatment, a la "The Office" or "League of Gentlemen:" two discs, amusing menus, authentically hideous cover - the lot. Best of the extras are the deleted scenes (already seen on the VHS and first DVD), all of which seem to have been cut for time reasons alone and not quality: a particular moment of genius is Alan's other programme idea pitched at Tony Hayers over that legendary uneaten lunch, a perfect insight into the man's impoverished, flailing imagination: "A costume chat show with me as Samuel Pepys ... you could have John Thaw as Robespierre ... and Stephen Hawkings [sic] behind a curtain whispering clues through his voicebox..."

Also recommended is the commentary by writers Coogan, Armando Iannucci and Peter Baynham, who have the humanity and humility to laugh at the jokes but not too much, and give plenty of glimpses into the creative process, not to mention the slightly alanly-retentive side of the trio which feeds so much authenticity into their just-about-larger-than-life grotesque creation. Less worthwhile is the commentary by Coogan in character as Alan Partridge, along with Lynn, which resembles a rather eventless and drawn out version of the improvised car scene (another DVD bonus) and compares poorly with the same technique used in the DVD of "This is Spinal Tap," where David St. Hubbins so memorably advised us that he had split up with Janine because "the millennium changed and so did she..."

Oh and don't forget the finest comic scene ever recorded in complete darkness - Alan's valance-("the skirt thing round the end of the bed")-darkening bedtime experience with lovely Jill, 50. So beg borrow or steal this DVD. Actually not the last one - I will not condone lawbreaking. Although I will do 80 on the motorway if I have to get somewhere quickly.


A sheer joy to watch over and over again   October 24, 2003
14 out of 15 found this review helpful

If you've ever watched Knowing Me, Knowing You With Alan Partridge, you will already know that the character Alan Partridge is another gem from the comedy genius that is Steve Coogan. The only gripe I had with KMKYWAP, was that you never saw the man behind the dodgy toupee and blazer badge combo suit. This is exactly what you get with 'I'm Alan Partridge'.

As a socially inept radio DJ working the graveyard shift at Radio Norwich, you see the 'real' AP. The man whose wife left him for a fitness instructor, the man living in a Linton Travel Tavern and the man without a second series of KMKYWAP.

Alan Partridge has so many depths; there are times when he is so brash and insensitive you just want to slap him - 'I'd like to dedicate this song to that lady over there... with orange hair... and a cigarette in her mouth'. But at the same time you grow to love him. It is rare to feel sympathy towards a television character, but AP seems so lifelike at times, it's almost impossible not to.

1. A Room with an Alan - Alan is refused a second series of KMKYWAP by Chief Commissioning Editor Tony Hayers. What was an amiable dinner quickly becomes a complete disaster for Alan, who ends up attacking Tony with a piece of cheese - 'Smell my cheese you mother!'

2. Alan Attraction - It's Valentine's Day, and Alan treats his new girlfriend Jill to a romantic trip to an owl sanctuary followed by an all you can eat Valentine's supper at the Travel Tavern. Included is a rendition of 'Close to You' and a great incident involving a chocolate mousse.

3. Watership Alan - Alan inadvertently insults a group of farmers on his radio show (something about an infected spinal column in a bap,) and ends up being trapped under a cow on a barge while filming an ad for trips to the Norfolk broads. Hilarity ensues.

4. Basic Alan - The Travel Tavern is being refurbished, so Alan takes a trip up the M11 for some windscreen washer fluid. When he returns he finds Lynn, his overworked P.A 'engaging in fun which excludes her employer'. Alan is not amused.

5. To Kill a Mocking Alan - Alan hosts a function at the Travel Tavern. 'It's a television chat show that's not on TV but has tea, Wagon Wheels and Sue Cook.' But disaster strikes as Sue Cook pulls out and Alan finds himself trapped in his only fan's house... who also happens to be an obsessed lunatic. Luckily he knows how to handle the awkward situation: 'No way you big spastic, you're a mentalist!'

6. Towering Alan - Alan receives some... well 'bad' news. Someone very close to him has died. Is this his big break? I very much doubt it.