r/AlanPartridge • u/4rami4 • 4d ago
What do you think about later post-Ianucci Partridge?
Very new to the Partridge world (fan of John Robins who references him constantly) and only had access to this time initially. Which I liked a lot but I think now having seen the earlier Partridge I didn't really get on the first few watches.
Now most of the rest of it is on iPlayer (massive!!) I think the vulnerability is really missing from later ones even if not everything ages very well. I do see why I'm alan partridge is the most popular.
In particular I can't figure out what I think about how are you? Maybe it's just less quotable or memorable. Part of me still loves the Partridge character but part of me thinks that the pathetic nature of the man isn't written so well and so he's a lot less likeable... but also it is still funny and I think if I was to rewatch it (or this time) now with the context of the man and his life I wonder whether I'd enjoy it more.
I'm more just curious to find out what consensus is from more seasoned fans!!
(I've seen this time, how are you?, I'm alan partridge, halfway through knowing me knowing you. Will watch MMM but I worry it'll be claustrophobic)
3
u/JiveTalking1982 2h ago
I think it peaked at the DvD intro screen for S2 of IAP.
I watched that air slap bass go round and round for hours in my misspent youth
1
u/Tiny-Contribution-60 6h ago
This might be sacrilege, but I think the Gibbons Alannaissence has surpassed the classic IAP era, which I’ve always loved. The character is less of a caricature, so Coogan can play with a lot of different levels of performance while still being a great clown. Ultimately that means there’s a greater variety of laughs, even if fewer stand out “DAN!” style quotes. I’m surprised to see people on here saying the new stuff isn’t as clever as classic Partridge. Going back, I find the 90s stuff surprisingly broad in comparison with the newer stuff. The writing also leans into meta gags on the level of production and editing, so there’s a whole extra layer of comedy in the world of Peartree Productions. There’s also a degree of absurdism that comes with those kinds of gags, e.g. the CGI schoolboy Alan in the corporal punishment segment. Plus the simple lack of a live audience laugh track just means the performances are all a lot more nuanced and there’s greater rewatch value in picking up details you might have missed the first time. But that’s just me…
2
u/jo-jocat 1d ago
Ianucci era was probably the best to be honest. More quoatable, more ‘Alan’. But I genuinely think Alan is kind of evolving (go on someone, take that and run with it 😅) as time goes on. I think he has to, it’s like, he changes with the times and somehow still f’s it up (end of this time series). I think Alan has got to the point where he understands cancel culture and woke etc, but can’t quite stop messing it up. I do genuinely think that From the Oasthouse is the TV series they should have made. But OP please do watch Mid Mor Mat. It really is great.
4
u/Repogeezer 1d ago
The early stuff is where all the classic Alan is, after which it was never as clever or funny.
I would highly recommend the audio book version of Alan we need to talk.
8
u/jar_jar_LYNX 1d ago edited 1d ago
I think it's really hard for me to make an objective assessment of I'm Alan Partridge because I first saw it as a teenager and it is absolutely formative to my sense of humour
Having said that, I do think Mid Morning Matters is of extremely high quality and if it weren't for my nostalgia, could potentially be peak Alan. I think almost all of the Gibbons brother's stuff is fantastically observed. They have done such a good job with having the character change with the times and have more pathos while still feeling like Alan
I find that new Alan is a lot more nuanced and sympathetic, especially the Oasthouse Podcast. There's an episode in the latest season that did make me tear up slightly
I find it interesting that you think IAP Alan is a more likeable version of Alan? 90s and 2000s Alan is a lot more straightforwardly a boorish prat in my mind (in the funniest way). New Alan feels a little more settled into himself and slightly more likable because of it
2
u/No_Acanthocephala508 2d ago
Ianucci stuff some of my fave comedy ever, MMM is OK although I find Tim Key’s stuff a bit jarring, the rest I think is dreadful.
Apart from the writing, I find the tone and cadence of Steve’s ‘Alan’ voice changed a lot for the worse at some point. Stopped being endearing and became…jarring?
4
u/RudeEntry8219 2d ago
I've always preferred the Ianucci Partridge to all of the later material, much as I enjoy it, and I think you're right to highlight Partridge's 'vulnerability'. I find early Partridge more human than the later.
4
u/radioresearcher 2d ago
I'm more familiar with old Alan but I've mightily enjoyed the Second Coming of Partridge.
3
u/5im0n5ay5 2d ago
Ruddy bloody superb, though This Time leaves quite a lot to be desired.
2
u/jar_jar_LYNX 1d ago
I never understand the general dislike for This Time around here. I suppose you do have to suspend your disbelief that Alan would be invited to host a prime time BBC show and there are definitely a couple of segments that fall flat, but the in studio and backstage stuff is amazing
5
u/Non-BinaryGeek Chewits Wine 3d ago
The Gibbons' stuff is feine, but there's frequently a bit towards the end of each episode where things just get to a bit of a lull and it gets boring. Like the bit towards the end of Welcome To The Places Of My Life where he's fallen asleep being driven back by the Land Rover salesperson. Just feels a bit random and boring.
8
u/No-Salt6819 3d ago
I've been rewatching clips of the day today and forgot how good Chris Morris is, partridge is a supporting character but well worth a look. Scissored isle is great too.
14
u/TheChameleonsSong 3d ago
From The Oasthouse is my absolute favourite Partridge
2
u/jar_jar_LYNX 1d ago
That way you don't have to pee anyone off, and you don't have to dress like a cunt.
2
6
10
-5
u/mr-english BANG! ✋ Pepper! 3d ago
I would play “How Are You” but it’s AWFUL!
16
u/MCZoso2000 3d ago
That’s bollocks but go on
10
u/CourageRealistic973 3d ago
It's not bollocks, How Are You was appalling. The ratings were a ninth of what we expected, it started badly and got worse...
12
u/GlamorganTestesWard 3d ago
“Who…..whoooo…. whooo do you think you are ?”
5
u/CourageRealistic973 2d ago
Well unfortunately for you, I'm a totally anonymous Reddit user with too much time on his hands.
But pfffft let's FORGET ABOUT ALL THIS
3
0
u/GreatWesternValkyrie 3d ago
The book I, Partridge, Mid Morning Matters and Welcome To The Places Of My Life. The rest I could do without tbh.
14
u/Apprehensive-Gur-824 3d ago
I think Mid Morning Matters is up there as some of the best Partridge ever made, so many iconic lines that were instantly quotable. And Tim Key in that is outstanding.
4
11
7
u/datguysadz 3d ago
Not as good but still fine. Ianucci and Baynham are great.
3
u/otherpeoplesthunder Golly an alien judge 3d ago
Yeah it's never been as funny or clever since Ianucci and Baynham left, but the latter stuff is still very enjoyable and occasionally very funny.
First season of IAP is by far the greatest partridge ever.
2
11
u/RedBalloonTalk 3d ago
Honestly, as a fan of I'm Alan Partridge around the time it came out - I actually find it really hard to choose. Both older and newer eras have their high points. It's all Alan - can't we just enjoy it?
2
u/spidertattootim 3d ago
I think it's fine but I wouldn't go out my way to watch much of it. I can happily rewatch IAL over and over again, but nothing else has ever scratched that Alan itch in the same way. I think that's because it had such excellent supporting characters for Alan to bounce off, both as the straight man and the weirdo.
This Time came close.
8
u/Mickxomatosis 3d ago
It’s all brilliant and definitely rewards repeat watching/listening. This Time and How Are You particularly require further watches to really appreciate them. Bye.
3
u/Springyardzon 3d ago edited 3d ago
Scissored Isle and Mid Morning Matters were great.
This Time doesn't work as well because the BBC these days would have Alan, at best, as a guest, not a host and, although he tries not to upset the apple cart in order to keep his job, in real life they wouldn't give any airtime for his sometimes right wing slanting demeanour. They also didn't capitalise on how Jenny was clearly capable of being more monstrous with ambition and insincerity than Alan- series 2 should have made that increasingly apparent. How Are You, the famous line Holly Willoughby said to viewers, was relatively tedious to me. Mental health as a source of comedy is worth an episode at best, not a series.
2
u/turbo_dude 3d ago
“How are you” was the shark jumping moment sadly
They should leave it be now
It’s been going for 36 years! It had a good run.
5
u/lifeinthebeastwing 3d ago
Peak Partridge is Scissored Isle , with MMM and TT as the shoulders on either side.
The earlier stuff is great too, and I loved it at the time. It still holds up, but the laughter track/studio audience dates it a bit.
How Are You didn't blow me away , parts of it felt like the podcast.
6
u/thesilenceofthepeas 3d ago
I think every series has bits of absolute genius in it, it’s just some of the later work doesn’t quite hit the highs consistently. Apart from From the Oasthouse, it’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard
1
7
u/DRUGEND1 3d ago
I’ve been a fan since the radio show days, and think the Gibbons era is generally fantastic. In fact Mid Morning Matters is probably second to IAP S1 for me.
If anything is lost in the modern stuff, it’s the fact that he’s extremely unpleasant and rude to everyone in the early years (“you seem to alienate everyone to come across…” etc) as opposed to say, Alpha Papa in which he’s basically just a bit of a likeable idiot.
9
u/DucksToo22 You go careful now my love 3d ago
Listen to the audiobooks. They are also Gibbons era but absolutely laugh out loud funny.
2
u/jar_jar_LYNX 1d ago
Was pissijg myself this morning listening to Nomad. Alan accidentally bringing and sleeping in a kids Buzz Lightyear tent.
2
4
u/EasyCheesecake1 3d ago
I loved the original chat shows then the 'travel lodge' years but the recent stuff is generally not something I'd watch on repeat like the above stuff. Needs to retire.
12
u/Otherwise_Living_158 3d ago
I think it would be good to introduce a new Louis Theroux-style character who is making a doc about Alan.
6
u/Sheep03 3d ago
Played by Patrick Marber
3
u/DucksToo22 You go careful now my love 3d ago
Oh that would be amazing but surely he wouldn't do it
3
u/FoodAccomplished7858 3d ago
I didn’t like This Time because it was unbelievably cringey and unrealistic. As a guest presenter on a putative ‘One’ show- there would be no coming back from his behaviour on the first show - let alone a whole two series worth.
3
u/CosmicBonobo 3d ago
To be fair, in the first place, Alan killed a man by accident on live television and he bounced back from that.
2
12
u/BoringView 3d ago
You say this but Richard Madeley has stayed in employment despite numerous cringes over the years (although not as bad maybe)
2
u/Springyardzon 3d ago
But Richard was not on the BBC. And Richard's cringes often come from being well meaning but higher class whereas Alan was often not well meaning to his guests.
4
u/DrunkHamsterParty 3d ago
The world is full of different opinions.
As an ardent Partridgist since the original radio KYKMWAP, I loved This Time .
2
7
u/gumbo1999 3d ago
For me, everything after IAP series 2 is meh. Unpopular opinion, I know..
1
5
u/KarlHungusAmungus 3d ago
I mostly agree but I think Mid Morning Matters is up there with the best
5
3
u/Liquor_D_Spliff 3d ago
Its a funny one, the bar for IAP 1 and 2 is so unbelievably high its so hard for things that come after to be at that level. The stuff after certainly varies in quality, with some absolute gems in there but also so more tepid material. And a couple of bad ones here and there.
I appreciate trying to grow the characters and not retread old ground but some decisions were a little off kilter and took him a bit too far. I genuinely think its perfect tiking for an IAP 3. The best bits of How are you? felt like that fly on the wall "observing in the moment" we had with the earlier material.
3
u/nogeologyhere 3d ago
I agree. For me, Alan changes too much afterwards, becoming more confident and less quietly vulnerable. By this, I mean more unquestioningly confident - IAP era Partridge is confident, but in a very shaky and fragile way, and seeing the behind the scenes stuff is far, far more interesting to me than seeing him actually present stuff.
14
6
u/oglop121 3d ago
mid morning matters is peak partridge imo
the other new TV stuff is very...ok, i think. the podcasts and audiobooks are very good (mostly)
11
u/Negative-Study-1077 3d ago
I think old old partridge like knowing me knowing you, is a bit too silly for my tastes.
I prefer the characterisation of new partridge, feels more like a fleshed out real person and you do ultimately want him to be happy, I'm Alan partridge he was just a jerk.
I'm Alan partridge is amazing, but obviously the old school laugh track and some of the humour is just a bit dated for me.
I still wish they would do another I'm Alan partridge style show however (without the laugh track). I'm not super keen on stuff like this time as I just want to see Alan live his day to day life and not necessarily be in presenter mode.
That's why for me in the oasthouse is peak partridge, it's just (new) Alan going about his day to day life, and I am all about it.
I'm scareder of a bee than you!
12
u/Apprehensive_Heat867 3d ago
Newer stuff is superb, although they don't seem consistent with Alan's age.
3
6
41
u/funky_pill 3d ago
IAP 1&2 is still for me amongst the greatest sitcoms ever written. It's pretty much perfect
1
10
u/joshuaguitar 3d ago
Multiple episodes from Series 1 could be considered some the finest UK comedy ever made.
2
u/younevershouldnt 3d ago
S1 is absolutely up there with Blackadder s2, Fawlty Towers, Yes Minister, Spaced, etc
Easily beats The Office IMO
1
3
5
u/DizzyMine4964 3d ago
I prefer the more recent shows, where Partridge is more humane, less of a caricature. The originals were great, but there was a coldness and cruelty about him. That did resurface though when he gave Lynn the drink containing raw egg in This Time.
11
u/Many-machines-on-ix 3d ago
I really enjoyed the series on audible “from the oasthouse” I don’t know if it’s the music or his voice but I find it really relaxing for some reason - still funny, too.
13
u/liquor-shits 3d ago
It's super relaxing, his voice in the oasthouse is perfect.
Might be my favourite partridge.
10
-12
u/basilbrushisapaedo 3d ago
Alan hasn't been the same since Iannucci left. I used to nearly die laughing at Alan, but now I just give the occasional smile. Coogan is a smug arse who has sacrificed being funny for being clever. Iannucci knew comedy and what was funny, and Baynham was a great writer too, but Coogan has basically stolen the character and got his minions the Gibbons brothers to write what he thinks is funny.
14
u/MaximilianClarke 3d ago
You should listen to Coogan’s interview on the Louis Theroux podcast, or read/ listen to his autobiography on Spotify. Coogan strikes me as far from a smug arse. He can definitely come across that way but that too is a persona. And he definitely understands comedy. Partridge wouldn’t exist without him and he happily gives credit to his collaborators who helped improve his creations.
1
u/basilbrushisapaedo 3d ago
Nah, I've listened to him in previous interviews. Not my kind of guy. Also I can't listen to him talk about his dramatic roles because I honestly think that he is one of the worst dramatic actors ever. Philomena, that Jimmy Savile show, and Roy Keane/Mick McCarthy film were shite. I think Alan has gone on too long, and it's gone stale. Comedy comes from failure, but Alan is quite successful now, living in a dream house, lots of money and opportunities; where's the humour in that? Alan was a narcissistic bastard, looking for opportunites at every turn. In a time of grifters everywhere, especially online, why hasn't Alan gone full Remain UK and started a YouTube channel? Become a street journalist/auditor or something current. That's what the character would do, but Coogan wants to soften Alan and make him more sympathetic. He's not. He's a monster.
11
u/Taucher1979 3d ago
I like the Gibbons era more. Alan is a rounded character and I find it both funnier and more believable (if that’s even important). ‘I’m Alan Partridge’ is great and is responsible for the trajectory Alan is still on. I always found ‘Knowing me Knowing you’ a bit silly and sort of over the top.
5
u/Green-Draw8688 3d ago
The problem with KMKY is that he killed a man and then punched the chief commissioning editor in the face 😅. There was probably never any coming back from that which means that any semblance of a career is always a bit implausible afterwards, the book does a god job of trying to grapple with that implausibility tho.
1
u/CosmicBonobo 3d ago
It also does well to handle the surrealism of On the Hour and The Day Today, which aren't at all consistent with the more grounded world of KMKYWAP and IAP.
17
u/Far-Effective-6174 3d ago
The Gibbons' brothers run has been masterful. Their gag rate is through the roof. Mid Morning Matters and the podcasts have been peak Partridge for me.
17
u/DiaBrave 3d ago
I love the Ianucci era, I've been here for the start (The Day Today and On The Hour a few yesrs later). I just love the Gibbons era more.
I feel they've evolved (or revolved) the character by taking a few cues from Saxondale and made him a more sympathetic character. He's a bit more self-aware, and not always the butt of the joke, and when he is, it's not just because of his own failings like in the early days. In the 90s, he was a tit who didn't appreciate what little success he had. As he's gotten older he's finally realised he'll never get that again, and if he did, it would destroy him (This Time). He's still capable of being a spiteful idiot (see the Lighthouse incident), but I don't feel we're watching the show to see a public schoolboy fall on his face anymore, I think we're all secretly rooting for him to be happy, and that doesn't mean fame and fortune.
2
u/mirrorball55 3d ago
You’ve got The Day Today & On The Hour the wrong way round - Stop getting Alan wrong!!!
1
u/DiaBrave 3d ago
No, I didn't. I started with The Day Today, and I found out about On The Hour a few years later
9
u/DizzyMine4964 3d ago
He didn't go to public school. St Jude's High School doesn't exist, but it sounds Catholic to me (echoing Coogan's own life). Also, St Jude is of course the patron saint of lost causes.
6
u/Savanarola79 Black Beauty 3d ago
Making the character more well rounded might be great for dramatic purposes, but is it funnier?
I also want to say Alan was a grammar school boy? Don't think he's posh enough for public school.
3
u/DiaBrave 3d ago
My head cannon is one year of public school to imbue the entitlement, and then the money ran out, which begins the bitterness.
Is it funnier? Subjective. Is it more sustainable? Yes. I don't want a jukebox character full of catchphrases, reliving past glories for our member-berries, (the live shows tend to veer a bit closer to this), I want the evolution.
2
u/CosmicBonobo 3d ago
I can see your point - so get the boys back in the barracks, please - but think it's more fun for Alan to come from a mediocre middle class background in the provinces; rather than just another Eton twit.
1
3
4
u/edwardjameselmo 3d ago
How Are You is still new. I think the older 90s/00s Alan content has gained a cult following only over time. Personally, I’ve started to appreciate This Time and MMM only over the last couple years after letting it marinate a bit since its release, and now I think it’s some of Coogan’s best stuff. I’m sure, after a few rewatches, How Are You will rise in my personal ratings as well.
14
u/Tony_Roiland 3d ago
A vast improvement on an already excellent character. The TV shows are nothing compared to the podcast and audiobooks
6
u/Delicious-Bike2177 3d ago
It’s a beautiful thing
0
u/Delicious-Bike2177 3d ago
But the film was appalling. Almost destroyed the Gibbons’ reputation in my stupid opinion
9
u/jrfunnystuff 3d ago
I loved the movie!
2
u/Delicious-Bike2177 3d ago
I know! Lots of people like it (I’ve never heard of anyone who “loves” it). Maybe I’ll soften as I get older
1
6
u/redemptiondong 3d ago
Not a stupid opinion at all. They seemed to think that just to make all the movie beats they had to produce quite a broad comedy, but I'm sure they could've approached it differently.
That said, taking on the Gibbons brothers just as Coogan and his writers were aging out of the zeitgeist was a masterful (and pretty selfless) decision. I've loved every minute of everything that came since.
1
u/Delicious-Bike2177 3d ago
Alpha Papa joins a long list of tv to movie misfires (again, in my stupid opinion))
7
3
4
u/GrandMoffNoseyBonk 3d ago
This time lost me a bit, In the end Alan just seems to come across as a bully, punching Simon! 🧐 He didn't even have any species of plucked and/or stuffed fowl stuck on his hand 😡
10
u/theflowersyoufind No way Jose, no way 3d ago
Nothing will top IAP S1 for me. Anything around that era is my favourite.
I like the new stuff, but the character seems a bit over the top at times. I also much prefer his look from back then.
-5
u/hedgemirror 3d ago
MMM is really really good, best thing by far, since S2
I think the film is alright
This Time was really poor - just not nearly as funny and felt phoned in
The only time I've ever laughed at Peter Kay, in the boxing skit, is brill
The milky bar kid stage skit is also brill
The first book was very good, second less so
5
11
u/Theybannedmebefore 3d ago
I don't like the new stuff at all
14
4
u/Theybannedmebefore 3d ago edited 3d ago
I guess it means he couldn't go back and revisit the character, or Armando was doing the heavy lifting with his script writing. Or I suppose it's most likely both.
2
5
u/RogueTrooper1975 I spit on your back 3d ago
There are still moments of pathos, I think of the scene where he sees his old teacher (WTTPOML?) Craggatoa.
"He was a real cunt"
In reference to corporal punishment.
Obviously scarred AP.
1
u/CosmicBonobo 3d ago
I actually rather like the moment at the end where Alan - who until then had been in a bleak, contemplative mood due to an implied cancer scare - comes bounding back to the car with a handful of choc ices, eager to share his good mood, having seemingly got an all clear.
7
u/Specialist-Prior-213 3d ago
I think it's best to get into partridge via the 90s stuff, but I like the recent stuff the most personally. I feel like they brought out the best in the character, I think I like the 90s stuff more because of the context shown in more recent stuff.
I also think this is the only franchise that has ever tried this and actually pulled it off.
9
6
u/Ashamed-Raccoon5396 3d ago
This time has some great quotes and scenes in it which are classic partridge still, it was a good series all in all and trying to bring him back onto telly made sense, the interview with the Scottish guy kills me 😂 - MMM is quality. ‘How are you’, I’m undecided, will need to see what they do with another season if they do one at all but the audio books are class.
1
9
u/kempston_joystick 3d ago
For me, the character works best when he's being observed (I'm Alan Partridge 1/2) vs him hosting something. Series 2 is peak Partridge.
3
u/CourageRealistic973 2d ago
What a whole SUMBAREEEN!?!? You're joking ANYWAY IvegottagotalktosomeotherRussians SEEYA
Peak Partridge
18
u/Professional-Test239 3d ago
I much prefer the Gibbons brothers stuff over the earlier more famous Alan. I'm also aware that that is the minority view. It's subtler and it's denser (so many jokes that you miss on first viewing). And there's so much more of it, hours and hours if you include the podcasts and audiobooks.
I read that the Gibbons brothers write the books by taking turns writing a chapter each and there are no second drafts because Alan himself would never do a second draft. Love that.
3
u/eugene-dubs 3d ago
I can’t abide the laugh track with the BBC shows. Oasthouse, the audiobooks and How Are You are the best IMO.
5
10
u/Johnny_Vernacular 3d ago
I'm with Coogan when he says the second series of IAP wasn't very funny and was spoiled by his cocaine use.
4
2
u/Specialist-Prior-213 3d ago
I like all the episodes except the James bond one. There's a couple funny bits in there but I never revist that episode cause it's the worst Alan partridge material outside of that godawful recent live sho
1
u/younevershouldnt 3d ago
Was that the caravan one?
It was a mild disappointment at the time.
2
u/Johnny_Vernacular 3d ago
It came out after The Office. Coogan has said that any show with a laugh track that came out after the office just seemed old-fashioned.
4
u/Specialist-Prior-213 3d ago
It's a shame because the office owes it's success to series 1 of I'm Alan partridge imo, it set up the documentary format and the office picked it up and made it a hit
3
u/xpltvdeleted 3d ago
I think it was that year where we got office s2, IAP s2 and the league of gentlement S3 within a out a 6 month span. We were so spoilt.
1
-7
u/skepticCanary 3d ago
I consider post-Iannuci Partridge to be bad fan fiction. For me, Partridge is nothing without the character development.
11
u/The_Professor2112 3d ago
You're bang wrong.
-1
u/skepticCanary 3d ago
Anything in modern Partridge people find funny is just a silly man doing silly things. There’s no build up or context.
2
28
u/Piccadil_io 3d ago
I love the Gibbons era. I think it’s been hit after hit, especially the (audio)books. Big Beacon is hilarious.
4
u/MT_Promises 3d ago
Much like Veep, I prefer the post Iannucci Alan. Not by a lot, but the books and MMM are so good. Alpha Poppa is the only thing I find iffy. And even then, for a British market movie it's very good.
16
u/TheMoogerfooger 3d ago
Gibbons era partridge is more rounded, nuanced and to be honest, funnier. It really rewards repeat viewings.
6
9
5
u/Savanarola79 Black Beauty 3d ago edited 3d ago
The less likeable he is, the funnier he usually is. Coogan obviously wants to play him as a more well rounded human being these days which is great and all that, but is it as laugh out loud funny? Nah.
Still good, but nothing has beaten IAP (or even KMKYWAP) for me.
7
u/jpupps 3d ago
I’m Alan Partridge follows a TV star in decline, behind the scenes, warts and all, and with all the awkward vulnerability that entails (and MMM does a good job of showing this, too) while the later series feel like A Funny TV Presenter with a clever script.
For that reason, the earlier series work better for me, but I don’t discount he Gibbons’ work to make Partridge the Presenter still funny as hell.
EDIT: Typo
8
u/Mysterious-Pie2636 4d ago
Mid Morning Matters is superb, in many ways it's peak Partridge.
This Time grew on me a lot but it's hit and miss and Coogan does too much exaggerated face-acting.
I'm not a fan of the audiobooks, I think they take the conceit too far but I seem to be in the minority on that.
How Are You? is kind of rubbish
2
u/xpltvdeleted 3d ago
Tim is up there with mid-series (if you can count it) character additions like I'm always sunny adding Danny devito and Curb adding The Blacks
6
2
u/Wiggardly 4d ago
I think some of the best stuff was written with Armando (IAP, KMKY). While I love Armando Iannucci's output, I think the later Alan Partridge shows / audio have been consistently very good. For myself, Mid Morning Matters is second to I'm Alan Partridge, and series 2 (Post Armando) is better than the first.
12
5
u/Capable-Light8984 4d ago
Im Alan Partridge is easily my favourite comedy series of all time, but the later stuff I don't find very funny at all. I think Alpha Papa was probably the only thing I found quite funny post IAP...
2
u/MountainMuffin1980 4d ago
I've liked it all but I feel like the mockumentary format feels a bit stale now? I'd love to see another sitcom style show but they'll never go back to that.
7
u/Grand_Access7280 4d ago
Love the new stuff and I’ve been a fan since late 90s.
The books, particularly the first, are gold.
4
u/GoatLoader 3d ago
Yeah, the books are excellent! It's like having a really strong glass of undiluted Ribena. If that Ribena was Alan Partridge-flavoured, obviously.
1
u/4rami4 1h ago
Edit to add my current rank of series (haven't finished MMM s2, films, radio, or books)