I'm Alan Partridge : Complete BBC Series 2 [2003] [1997]

Initially seeming less focussed than the distilled genius of the original I'm Alan Partridge--perhaps because the Travel Tavern location of that series was such an inspired setting--this second instalment of Partridge life is nonetheless a simmering cauldron of repressed and not-so-repressed emotions as the dangerously unstable Alan teeters on the precipice of his own soul: will he regain the B-list celebrity fame for which he yearns so desperately, or fall back into chocolate-fuelled depression? Memorable situations for Alan this year include: trying to present a seminar whilst vomiting from the pain of an impaled foot; being offered a cup of beans on Michael's doorstep (the deluxe version, with a sausage, is "like a savoury 99"); being unnerved by a nymphomaniac's wandering hand coming within 30 mm of his "gland"; having disquieting homoerotic encounters with John, the buff builder from "oop north"; acting out the entire opening sequence of The Spy Who Loved Me; and watching the unsold print run of his autobiography being pulped like "word porridge". Needless to say, Alan has the last laugh.

On the DVD: I'm Alan Partridge, Series 2 two-disc set features commentaries on all the episodes with various members of the writing team and cast (Coogan included intermittently). The second disc's main extra is "Anglian Alan", a 30-minute Anglian Lives interview with the celebrated Norfolk Renaissance man. There are also deleted scenes and outtakes, plus more of Alan's botched Comic Relief segments, as well as a stills gallery and cast biographies. --Mark Walker

As the series progresses, we discover more and more about what has been happening in this 5 year gap, i.e. Alan's breakdown and chocolate addiction, which pinacled when he gorged on Toblerones and drove to Dundee in his bare feet. We now find that he is the author of his struggling autobiography 'Bouncing Back', with a Ukrainian girlfriend who is 14 years his junior, whom he 'has it off' with at least twice a day. Michael, the army fanatic from the Linton Travel Tavern is now working in his local BP garage, and Lynn is still working for him selflessly. We now follow Alan's quest for fame a little furthur on in his 'career', living in a static home while waiting for the construction of his new house (will it be called 'Excalibur' or just 'Our House' as Sonja suggests?)

Some classic moments include:
Alan trying to convince Sonja that he knows Bono
Hiding his income tax dodging past from the Inland Revenue (he accepted a dressing gown as a gift from Bill Oddy). 'I'm guilty as hell Lynn!'
An encounter with a sex-mad couple - 'Lynn these are sex people!'
A full demonstration of the opening of 'The Spy Who Loved Me' -'Stop getting Bond wrong!!'

Don't listen to all the comments about this series not being as good as the first. They are both absolutely side-splitting examples of British comedy, and even if series 2 is not quite up to the same standard, it is pure tv gold nonetheless.


A Partridge Among The Pidgeons. AHA!!!   November 11, 2003
11 out of 13 found this review helpful

Well what can i say, Steve Coogan has done it again, with the second series of I'm Alan Partridge!

If you loved the first series or you haven't even watched Steve Coogan perform as Alan Partridge, (Where have you been hiding?!) then check him out, he is a breath of fresh air when it comes to British comedy, his sarcastic and true abrasive attitude just makes you laugh until your sides start to hurt!

After a couple of years of being clinically fed-up, Alan has bounced back. He's got the third best slot on Radio Norwich, and a 33 year-old girlfriend called Sonja.

With new catchphrases such as "Back of the net" and Butter my arse" this is an essential addition to all you Alan fans out there.

I'm sure Steve Coogan has won many fans through his Alan Partridge persona, and undoubtabely will gain many more after this new release.

My advice is quite simple actually, BUY NOW!

It is simply First Class!

Episodes On DVD 1 :

The Talented Mr Alan, ***

Alan bumps into his old school teacher, who once caned Alan for having a chalk *ahem* drawn on his back, and agree's to do a presentation at his old school

The Colour Of Alan, *****

Alan is really on the up, he has been asked to organise a sales conference at Dante's of Reading, (the ferrari of the coal effect fire industry). However, following a nasty accident at his local country club 'Choristers', the day of the presentation dosen't exactly go to plan.

BraveAlan, *****

Alan meets Dan Moody - owner of Planet Kitchen, both of them love director's bitter, use lynx deodorant and drive Lexi (plural for Lexus). When Dan asks Alan to present an award at the Norwich bravery awards, it seems an invitation to join Norwich's social elite is beckoning...

Never Say Alan Again, ****

Alan and Michael plan to spend a Bank Holiday weekend watching every single James Bond film back-to-back. Alan helps Sonja work out the catering arrangements for the perfect Bondathon, but then finds out about Michael's American loving trucking friend.

I Know What Alan Did Last Summer, ****

Alan is worried about a visit from the Inland Revenue following an upsetting journey on a cross-channel ferry, in which he threw all his business receipts into the sea. Meanwhile, Sonja is swooning over her favourite pop star Bono, and has made a special scrapbook in his honour.

Alan Wide Shut, *****

Alan appears on Prayer Wave, a religious discussion show on talk Cambridge, has an invitation to Lynn's baptism, and has a pressing engagement at the recycling plant, following some bad news regarding his book.

Extras on DVD 2,

- Anglian Alan (Anglian lives documentary)
- Unused Alan (Delted Scenes)
- Cast & Production commentaries
- Add-on Alan (10 minutes of additional material)
- Alan Aid (Highlights from 1999 and 2001 Comic Relief)
- Audio Alan (Jingles gallery)
- Still Alan (Photo Gallery)


Deja vu...!   January 17, 2004
Jonathan James Romley (Dublin, Ireland)
10 out of 16 found this review helpful

The first series was a wicked spoof on teatime chat shows that was so successful many thought it to be real. The second series took on the style of a fly on the wall docusoap, as we followed Alan’s fall from grace in some shockingly dark detail. What we needed here was a combination of the two styles to present us with an Alan that was both successful in his own right, but still twisted enough to make this kind of edgy comedy work. Instead, we get a re-hash of the first I’m Alan Partridge, with the same characters, same jokes and same situations. It’s as funny as the earlier hit, being an effective carbon copy, but it never really improves on the format in the way that it should have.

This is a sad fact, as it’s rumoured to be the last incarnation of the character that we’re ever going to get. Coogan has expressed the desire to leave Alan behind for sometime, and you can clearly see some of his discomfort with the character through his performance here. In fact, to me he seemed to be playing more on his incarnation of Tony Wilson from Michael Winterbottom’s recent 24 Hour Party People more than the character we know and love. This makes this series even more difficult to ‘get’. The DVD just about makes up for the short comings, featuring a slew of extras including deleted scenes, outtakes, Alan’s comic relief specials (one of which includes Peter Kay), the radio inserts, and commentaries from the cast... but it never really reaches the masterful peaks of the first two works.

For the most part, the commentary is a depressing affair, filled with self-gratifying backslapping and long passages of silence. The team seem more concerned with having tea breaks than actually offering anything in the way of entertainment... they should really take a listen to the talk track on the Phoenix Nights DVD to see how this kind of thing is supposed to be done. However, the real point of interest here is the inclusion of the special Anglian Lives documentary profile, in which Alan throws himself into a 45 minute interview to draw attention to the ‘should have been’ bestseller Bouncing Back. This is really what the series should have been... intelligent, witty, and downright hilarious. Both Coogan and co-star/writer Peter Baynam are on top form; and we also get to hear about such infamous Alan scenarios as his Toblarone-fuelled journey to Dundee, and his disastrous trip to Lego-land.

If you are a die-hard fan of Alan, Coogan, or great British comedy in general, this is still a worthy addition to you’re DVD collection. As previously noted throughout, it does lack the genius creativity of all the other Partridge productions, and is certainly a bit samey when compared to the previous release. But given that Coogan’s last experiment, Dr Terrible House of Horrible was treated with complete disdain from both critics and audiences alike, how could you blame him for playing things safe with this. Let’s hope that we get some decent closure for the character at some point in the near future, until then, this is a decent enough taster... And at any rate, it’s still one hundred times better than the Office.


Back of the net!   March 24, 2004
Mr. M. J. Hughes (U.K)
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

My word. Having bought this dvd on a whim having caught the tail-end of a clip on television, I must say that it possibly stands as one of my best purchases of the past few years. I had missed the first series and this, the second series when they were shown on BBC, so I was completely new to to whole 'Alan Experience'.

What an experience it is. Alan is portreyed fabulously by Steve Coogan, a man obviously full of comic talent. Alan himself is a character who splits your emotions right in two: on the one hand, you feel deeply sympathetic that a man could drop as low as Alan at times does during the episodes (throwing up at a small-time launch party as a result of injuring himself on a health club guard rail), whilst on the other you feel a sense of satisfaction that a man who obviously treats others with such contempt has been given what he deserves.

Alan is, basically, a child at heart, and Coogan gets the impression over perfectly. Be it running around his soon-to-be-built living room, to sneaking round his house like James Bond, or having his personal assistant Lynn draw a chalk 'member' on an old school rival's back, Partridge is a very insecure character always trying to 'get one over' people. It goes to say that, of course, he fails more often than not.

The acting in the series is absoloutely first-rate, and so good that you sometimes can't imagine that the characters are in fact fictional. It's so very well produced, so detailed without becoming over-complex, that repeated viewings are as pleasurable the tenth time as they were the first. In the way that every classic comedy such as Blackadder has stood the test of time due to the fact that the jokes are funny even if you have heard them countless times, so Alan Partridge maintains it's level of excellence throughout repeated viewing. Every action, word and situation the series conjurs up are clever, amusing and, in some circumstances, purposefully uncomfortable in the way that you really cannot believe the lengths Alan will go to in order to re-establish himself.

All in all, I would heartily recommend this to anyone who enjoys fine English comedy. As Alan himself would say - 'back of the net!'