Like fellow British actor Ricky Gervais,Coogan loves making his audiences uncomfortable,but unlike Gervais,Coogan has never needed to be liked. You may wince at Partridge and his poor treatment of Lynn or his various dating fiascos,but you will never feel sorry for him or want him to succeed. Partridge’s appeal lies in his failures.
Gervais,meanwhile,may have made hisOffice alter ego David Brent a self-important fool,but he caved at the end and gave him a happy ending – a date who didn’t want to leave and a joke that finally made his colleagues laugh. Coogan has never given Alan Partridge that satisfaction. He’s tortured him through five TV series,plus specials,books,movies,podcasts and live shows.
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It’s not just Coogan doing his thing that makesThis Time with Alan Partridge work. It has every beat of these magazine-style shows absolutely right:short segments on everything from body language to silent retreats,celebrities promoting books,salty US correspondents (Lolly Adefope),slightly confused techies (Tim Key) and overwrought made-for-TV emotional reunions. It could beStudio 10,Sunrise orToday – they’re all the same,all ripe for parody.
And that’s why I love Alan Partridge. I don’t need to see a glossy winner on morning television. I want the losers,the graspers,the egomaniacs. I want to be entertained. And,in spite of himself,that’s what Alan Partridge does best.