I'm Alan Partridge is a British sitcom created by Steve Coogan, Peter Baynham and Armando Iannucci. Coogan stars as Alan Partridge, a tactless and inept broadcaster. The first series, broadcast in 1997, has Partridge living in a roadside hotel after having been left by his wife and dropped by the BBC. The second, broadcast in 2002, sees Partridge living in a static caravan after recovering from a mental breakdown. Iannucci said the writers used the sitcom as "a kind of social X-ray of male middle-aged Middle England". The supporting cast includes Felicity Montagu as his faithful but timid personal assistant, Lynn Benfield; Simon Greenall as Geordie handyman Michael; and Phil Cornwell as Partridge's rival DJ Dave Clifton. Series 2 also featured Amelia Bullmore as Partridge's Ukrainian girlfriend Sonja. The show received critical acclaim and was a success amongst audiences, being nominated for three BAFTAs (winning two), two British Comedy Awards (winning both), and a Royal Television Society award. In a list drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted by industry professionals, I'm Alan Partridge was named the 38th-best British television series of all time.

Premise

Alan Partridge was created by Steve Coogan and the producer Armando Iannucci for the 1991 BBC Radio 4 comedy programme On the Hour, a spoof of British current affairs broadcasting, as the show's sports presenter. In 1992, Partridge hosted a spin-off Radio 4 spoof chat show, Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge. On the Hour transferred to television as The Day Today in 1994, followed by Knowing Me, Knowing You later that year. The series ends with Partridge accidentally shooting a guest. I'm Alan Partridge follows Partridge after he has been left by his wife and dropped from the BBC. In the first series, he lives in a roadside hotel, presents a graveyard slot on local Norwich radio, and desperately pitches ideas for new television shows. In the second series (2002), Partridge lives in a static caravan with his new Ukrainian girlfriend (Amelia Bullmore) after recovering from a mental breakdown. By then he has moved to the late night "Norfolk Nights" slot and also hosts "Skirmish", a military-based general knowledge quiz show on digital cable channel UK Conquest, which Partridge says has "the largest audience share for a digital channel at that time of day in the Norfolk area". The writers found the second series difficult to make, feeling it had been too long since the first and that expectations for sitcoms had changed. Iannucci said the writers used I'm Alan Partridge as "a kind of social X-ray of male middle-aged Middle England".

Episodes

Series 1 (1997)

Series 2 (2002)

Reception

I'm Alan Partridge won the 1998 BAFTA awards for Comedy Performance and Comedy Programme or Series. Digital Spy wrote: "the character of Partridge hit his comic peak" in I'm Alan Partridge. Entertainment Weekly described the show as "bleakly hilarious". The Telegraph named I'm Alan Partridge as one of the 10 best TV sitcoms of all time. In a poll of British comedians conducted by the TV channel Gold, it was named as the second-best British sitcom of all time. In a 2017 poll of over 100 comedians, a scene from I'm Alan Partridge in which Partridge goes to the home of an obsessive fan was voted best comedy scene.

Awards and nominations