Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

Cafe Society
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Note: This thread is also somewhat intended to be a discussion of Alan Partridge in general. We had a discussion awhile back about this character works for Americans, if you want to read about it in general.

I have now seen Knowing Me, Knowing You, I’m Alan Partidge(both series), and today I just finished Alpha Papa. I know this isn’t everything Coogan has done with the character, but I think it is a pretty good sample.

I thought Alpha Papa was the best thing he’s ever done. I only gigled a few times during Knowing Me, Knowing You. I found both series of I’m Alan Partridge mildly humorous, but nothing stands out as hilarious. When I think of great characters of British sitcoms, I think of Basil Fawlty and David Brent. Alan Partridge is a distant third for me. I get what is funny about him, but only chuckle at most.

However, the final 45 minutes of Alpha Papa was the best I’ve seen the character. They were brilliant putting him in a hostage situation and mixing that with career opportunities. It brought out the best comedy moments in the character and also provided him with an actual conflict.

The final resolution at the dock was awesome and I loved that he still got shot even though he resolved things more or less peacefully.

Has anyone else seen this movie? Did you like it? Does it fit in with what you expect from the character? What are your thoughts on Alan Partridge in general?

PS: See The Trip and The Trip to Italy with Rob Brydon for some big laughs as well.

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I haven’t seen Alpha Papa, but I agree with the rest. I’ve always wanted to like Partridge (and Coogan) more than I do. But it just doesn’t fire on all cylinders for me. It’s not terrible stuff - not by a long shot - but it’s not unforgettable, either.

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I quite enjoyed it, kind of like him in his various stuff he’s done, but not enough to buy the discs of the series. But the movie was far better than I thought it would be…

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The film is brilliant, and if you can lay your mitts on a copy, get the published script that goes with it. There’s excised scenes (which you can skip), but also terribly funny commentary and direction notes.

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“Hello Mr Seagull, are you here to take my soul away?”

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Oh my yes, the movie was a mixture of funny, cruel and charming from that brilliant lip-synching credit sequence to the end.

Partridge has had quite the renaissance over the past few years–who knew a character would have such a successful creative rebirth after several years of lying fallow? Much credit goes to Coogan and Iannucci as well as the original team, but one can’t talk about the newer successes without lauding the Gibbons brothers, who despite being newcomers to the Partridgeverse fit the style perfectly and added immensely to Alan’s world. Mid-Morning Matters was/is fantastic (there’s a new series coming up, finally!), as was the pseudo-travel doc about Norfolk, These Are the Places in My Life.

But if you haven’t done so yet, run, don’t walk, to get the (primarily Gibbons brothers-penned) mocktobiography* I, Partridge. Better still, get the audiobook, which is unabridged and brilliantly performed by Coogan. Seven hours straight of Alan, with both utterly new biographical history interspersed with Alan’s unique takes on incidents we watched unfold in KMKY, IAP and MMM. Every other line is a gem. Simply one of the funniest books I’ve “read” (I have the audiobook and it’s on constant replay) and a surprisingly nuanced but never mawkish examination of a fictional character who could so easily be a one-note delusional egomaniac.

Partridge has long been a fascinating character, both as written and performed. He’s someone with almost literally no redeemable features–seriously, I can’t think of any–and yet there’s still something curiously likeable about him, almost as if accidentally. I’ve never figured out what that is, but it’s there.

(There is no way a character like this would have been created over here in the U.S. at the time Partridge emerged. The networks would’ve forced some redeeming characteristics, some moments of clarity and puppy-saving, to make him a feasible sitcom lynchpin. Even oh-so-edgy Ricky Gervais, who likes to claim he created cringe comedy–hello, people like Chris Morris and Iannucci got there before The Office premiered–felt compelled to add sympathetic redemption to David Brent, which is why I can’t agree that he’s anywhere near the character Alan is. Especially after reading I, Partridge.)

His multidimensional qualities have increased since the autobiography, even if he did “write” it with the desire to have written the next A Child Called It (but he can’t quite dig up enough real trauma). Make no mistake, he’s still patently a wretched, selfish prat, but even so, among the obvious exaggerations, the real authors offer enough tiny but revealing nuggets of history that explain some of Alan’s innumerable psychological/social flaws.

So, er, yeah. Thumbs up for me on Alpha Papa.

  • Sorry for the awful coined term… I don’t know what else to call it.