Line #33 Series/ImAlanPartridge


1	[[quoteright:317:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/im_alan_partridge.jpg]]
2
3	->''"...Monkey Tennis?"''
4	-->–Alan Partridge, pitching a programme idea to the BBC
5
6	1997-2002 BritCom starring Creator/SteveCoogan as Franchise/AlanPartridge, a failed chat show host. An utterly loathsome, pathologically narcissistic and self-absorbed failure of a human being with a permanent sneer, a wardrobe of Pringle jumpers and a fascination with 'ladyboys', Partridge, after a failed chat show in which he failed to get an appearance from Creator/RogerMoore, shot a guest dead, and punched his BBC boss with a partridge (''Series/KnowingMeKnowingYouWithAlanPartridge''), is reduced to the graveyard shift on local radio and living in a motel after being kicked out by his wife. The series took a close look at Partridge's life (such as it was) and his increasingly desperate attempts to get back on television. A second series was broadcast in 2002, which showed Partridge -- following an off-screen nervous breakdown -- as slightly more successful and a lot more smug. Other important characters include:
7
8	* Lynn: Alan's mousey personal assistant-slash-doormat, who organizes his life to such an extent that he can't survive without her, but whom he nevertheless treats with thoughtless contempt.
9	* Michael: Alan's only friend -- an emotionally tortured and desperate ex-soldier who is, possibly, even more of a loser than Alan is.
10	* Sonja (season 2 only): Alan's Ukrainian girlfriend, who even he describes as "mildly cretinous". But she is 14 years younger than him -- back of the net!
11
12	This is the role for which Steve Coogan will forever be remembered, and rightly so; one of the best British sitcoms ever made. Came forty-second in ''Series/BritainsBestSitcom''.
13
14	----
15	!!This show provides examples of:
16
17	* ActuallyPrettyFunny:
18	** Having bullied a fan into telling him what's wrong with his autobiography - namely that anecdotes are apparently not Alan's thing - Alan embarks upon a ''Series/BluePeter''-related one that actually ''works'', unlike a lot of his attempts at humour.
19	** In a meta-example, Sue Cook reportedly enjoyed the show's off-screen depiction of her as a foul-mouthed and unstable maniac, and apparently sent a mock-apology letter to Steve Coogan afterwards.
20	* AgonyOfTheFeet: [[spoiler:Happens in "The Colour of Alan," when Alan impales his foot on a very sharp piece of iron fencing.]]
21	* AmbiguouslyBi: The only characters Alan develops crushes on or ends up being together with are women, but he has bizarre [[EroticDream daydreams]] in the first series, which ''all'' involve dancing for the producer who cancelled his series, and then there's his obsession with 'ladyboys'. He has displayed slight homophobic tendencies, however (describing himself as a "homo-sceptic"), but later becomes more tolerant in his attempts to be seen as politically correct.
22	* AttractiveBentGender: Potentially the ''UsefulNotes/{{Bangkok}} Chickboys''.
23	* BeleagueredAssistant: Lynn to Alan, putting up with his antics and seemingly on call at all hours.
24	* BiggerIsBetter: A significant part of why Alan won't drive a Mini Metro, even though Lynn points out it would make more sense for him to do so if he wants to keep his company, Pear Tree Productions, in business.
25	* BigWordShout: '''''"Dan!"'''''
26	* BirdRun: Alan's attempt to flee from [[spoiler:his LoonyFan]] has to be seen to be believed.
27	* BreakTheCutie: Happens in the Series 1 finale. [[spoiler:After ''six months'' at the Linton Travel Tavern, Alan is finally ready to check out. On his last night as a guest, he throws a party in his room and invites the hotel staff. Susan, the warm and friendly receptionist, decides to tell Alan what she ''really'' thinks of him.]]
28	-->[[spoiler:'''Susan:''' ''[shrieking]'' ''I'll tell you what my problem is! Having to listen to your crap for the last'' '''''six months!''''' ''You've been in this hotel for'' '''''a hundred and eighty-two days,''''' ''you little'' '''''shit!''''']]
29	* BrickJoke:
30	** In the first season, Alan speaks to his ex-wife's new boyfriend (a fitness instructor) about switching on the immersion heater to get a deep bath. In the second, one of Alan's radio segments is called ''Alan's Deep Bath''.
31	** The 'pedestrianisation of Norwich City Centre' is brought up several times across the first season to often [[CringeComedy awkward]] effect.
32	** In Episode 1 of the first season, Tony Hayers introduces Alan to Peter Linehan during their lunch, who is revamping the BBC's News and Current Affairs department - Alan gives a blithe, uncaring shrug. Cut to Episode 6 of the first season and Tony Hayers' funeral; Chris Feather, having taken over Hayers' job, introduces Alan to Linehan again, citing him as 'having just revamped our News and Current Affairs'. Alan's reaction is ''entirely the same'', despite him actually joking and trying to cajole Tony Hayers into giving him a second series.
33	** In the final episode of series 1, Alan laments his current life at the Travel Tavern, complaining to Lynn that he's been living at the hotel for a hundred and eighty-two days. [[spoiler:Later in the same episode, Susan finally snaps and yells that she's had to put up with Alan's crap for a hundred and eighty-two days.]]
34	* BriefAccentImitation: Alan finds this trope pretty funny, Michael less so, and John the builder even less so. And don't forget the South African company rep.
35	* BritishBrevity: Only 12 episodes were made.
36	** Although in a subversion of this, the ''character'' has been carried across several series, including ''Series/TheDayToday'' and ''Series/KnowingMeKnowingYouWithAlanPartridge'', the latter of which serves as a direct lead into this series. Alan has since appeared in various specials, produced an ''actual'' version of the ''Bouncing Back'' book from series two with [[Literature/IPartridgeWeNeedToTalkAboutAlan I: Partridge]], and made a film debut with [[Film/AlanPartridgeAlphaPapa Alpha Papa]], all of which have created a surprisingly cohesive continuity for the character.
37	* BuffetBuffoonery: Alan Partridge brings his own (oversized) plate to the buffet.
38	* BullyHunter: In Series 2, Episode 4, Lynn introduces Alan to her friend, a retired policeman who attends her church, who reveals that he's heard all about Alan -- and has managed to piece together exactly what sort of a man he is, informing him in no uncertain terms that if he doesn't stop bullying Lynn and treating her like a doormat he'll get what's coming to him. Alan is sufficiently intimidated to start by raising her salary.
39	* CallBack: A subtle one; at the end of his meeting with Tony Hayers, when informed he's not getting a second series of his chat show Alan stabs a fork into a nearby block of cheese. Hayers instantly looks wary. This is because [[Radio/KnowingMeKnowingYouWithAlanPartridge he has prior experience of Alan assaulting him with food]].
40	* CassandraTruth: Subverted. In "Never Say Alan Again," Dave Clifton informs Alan that he's planning to spend the weekend doing archery with Tony Hadley, lead singer of Music/SpandauBallet. Alan cannot hide his jealousy, but still tries to cover it up by dismissing Dave's claim outright.
41	-->'''Alan:''' ''Rubbish.''
42	* CatchPhrase: Alan has several:
43	** "A-ha!" (his original catchphrase, carried over from his radio series)
44	** "Back of the net!"
45	** "Film/JurassicPark!"
46	** "Cashback!"
47	** "Film/SpiceWorld!"
48	* CelebrityLie: In Series 2, Alan claims to know [[Music/{{U2}} Bono]], in order to impress Sonja. [[spoiler:Sonja immediately calls his bluff, and despite Lynn's heroic effort to help Alan save face, the entire deception is laughably amateurish.]]
49	* CouchGag: After the TitleSequence, there's always a brief clip of Alan saying something [[AntiHumor uninteresting]].
50	* CountryMatters: A couple of examples from, fittingly enough, the angry farmers who take over Alan's phone-in.
51	* CringeComedy: Plentiful, but the crowning example has to be Alan's disastrous hosting gig in "The Colour of Alan."
52	--->'''Alan:''' ...I'm going to be sick again. [''prolonged retching'']
53	* CurseCutShort: Several examples in the space of the farmers' phone-in: "Oh, you ignorant cu.."
54	* DarkerAndEdgier: Series 2 is this, compared to Series 1. In the second series, Alan is still recovering from [[spoiler:the effects of a SugarWiki/{{Toblerone}} addiction he developed sometime after the events of Series 1, [[note]](This culminated in a complete nervous breakdown, during which Alan drove up to [[UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} Dundee]] in his bare feet. Upon arriving, he bought himself some shoes, and saw ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' at a cinema.)[[/note]]]] and has a harder time keeping his temper and various neuroses under control.
55	* DayInTheLife: "Basic Alan" in season one fits the criteria; it takes place over the course of a single day where, not having to work, having no engagements and with the Travel Tavern closed for renovations, Alan basically has to find ways to amuse himself.
56	* {{Determinator}}: One of Alan's few virtues is on full display in "The Colour of Alan," where he insists on hosting a sales conference despite [[spoiler:a badly-wounded (and still bleeding) foot]]. Alan decides to push through his presentation as best he can, and even dismisses Lynn's (very justified) urging to withdraw his commitment out of hand.
57	-->'''Alan:''' Lynn, some of these people have come from ''[[UsefulNotes/TheMidlands Stoke]]''.
58	** Though it's often deconstructed; as in the above case, the goal that Alan is determined to accomplish come hell or high water usually isn't actually worth it, and he just ends up screwing it up anyway.
59	* DiggingYourselfDeeper: In "Watership Alan," Alan is given an opportunity to get himself out of trouble after insulting Norfolk's farming community by offering a complete apology to a representative of the farming union, but his own pride and inability to accept fault or back down causes him to needlessly escalate the situation instead. This ultimately results in him getting a cow dropped on him.
60	* DumbassDJ:
61	** Alan! As summed up by Ben:
62	-->"I didn't know you were into music. I know you're a DJ, but I've heard your show."
63	** Dave Clifton, in a way which is nicely [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] by Alan:
64	-->"It's difficult to understand you when you say 'splidding' as I know in real life you say ''splitting''. It's interesting, the way you substitute a D for a T when you're broadcasting. If you ask me it's the behaviour of a ''[[GettingCrapPastTheRadar dosser]]''."
65	* EroticDream: A recurring gag in the first series has Alan frequently segue into a kind of daydream in which he offers to do a lap-dance for Tony Hayers (the man who cancelled his series) whilst wearing a leather codpiece and one of his Pringle jumpers with the nipples cut out, whenever he's whoring himself to get back on TV.
66	* EroticEating: Jill and the chocolate mousse. Alan is a little [[{{Squick}} squicked out]].
67	** Although it's important to note that the joke seems to be about how bizarre and neurotic Alan can be in his approach to women and sex. After all, one of the things that upsets him most is that there's now chocolate on the bed linen.
68	*** And on the valance. [[note]]'''Alan:''' The skirt thing round the side of the bed![[/note]]
69	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Our first introduction to Alan in the series comes when we see him playing out a song on his radio show, doing a time check, introducing a "fact of the day" and introducing the next song. Through this, viewers who've never encountered him before learn the following:
70	** He's a pedantic KnowNothingKnowItAll with some reactionary views.[[note]]He criticises Music/JoniMitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi" for the lyric "they paved over paradise to put up a parking lot" by pedantically arguing that this would reduce traffic congestion around paradise.[[/note]]
71	** He's a blinkered hypocrite.[[note]]He snidely calls Joni Mitchell 'blinkered' for not acknowledging his pedantic point above, despite the fact that he's the one either failing to spot the intended metaphor and lyric poetry in the song or is disingenuously ignoring it just to make a pick it apart in a way that supports his political views.[[/note]]
72	** His career isn't going very well. [[note]]The time check is for 4.30AM -- not exactly a peak hour for radio listeners. Furthermore, he's broadcasting on Radio Norwich, hardly a titan of the broadcasting world reaching a huge marketplace (Norwich being predominantly rural).[[/note]]
73	** He's fascinated by banal trivia. [[note]]His "fact of the day" is a mind-bogglingly banal point about "crab sticks" not actually being made of crab.[[/note]]
74	* EveryoneHasStandards:
75	** While Alan is not above discussing revenge fantasies in an Apache attack helicopter with Michael, he becomes visibly worried when Michael discusses his fantasy in great detail.
76	** And even Alan, massive jerkass though he is, is appalled when Michael describes throwing a monkey off a cliff into the sea in a fit of rage.
77	* EvilCannotComprehendGood: A downplayed example, since it's more "Shallow Cannot Comprehend Depth." During a promotional video for a local company who run charter houseboats for holidaymakers, Alan interviews a young woman who reveals that she likes to book a boat so that she can spend some time on the lakes reading and enjoying the scenery by herself. Alan, who is of course a huge narcissist who emotionally collapses if he doesn't have an audience of some kind, seems genuinely disturbed at the idea that someone can just spend their time peacefully and quietly enjoying nature all alone.
78	* IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming: All famous movie titles with the word "Alan" awkwardly inserted into them. However, there is usually some kind of link between the title and the events of the episode. For example:
79	** "A Room with an Alan" sets up the premise of the series, including Alan's dismal living situation in a single room in a travel tavern.
80	** "Watership Alan" revolves around Alan getting a job filming a promo video for a company selling riverboat holidays.
81	** "Basic Alan" is a BottleEpisode revolving around what Alan does when he's left to his his own devices (namely, just pissing about wasting time).
82	* IncrediblyLamePun: Alan, as a generally terrible broadcaster, is fond of these, and usually in incredibly bad taste.
83	-->'''Kate Fitzgerald''': ''(after describing her history with drugs)'' I notice you end almost every anecdote with the phrase "needless to say, I had the last laugh."
84	-->'''Alan''': Yeah, well, you could end some of your chapters with "''needles'' to say... I took drugs."
85	* IronicEcho: In the first episode, when Alan and Lynn are role-playing Alan's upcoming meeting with Tony Hayers, Alan gets Lynn to act out Tony's reasons for the worst case scenario of not giving him a second series. Lynn's in-character response is that the ratings for his show started badly and got worse. This spooks Alan and he eventually forces her to just tell him that he's getting a second series. Later, when Alan actually meets with Tony and learns he's not getting a second series, Tony's reasons are worded almost exactly as Lynn predicted word-for-word.
86	* JadedWashout: Alan. The series is all about the bitter life of a failed chat show host.
87	* LastSecondWordSwap: Many of Alan or Michael's stories end with this trope. Prime example:
88	-->'''Michael:''' ...so he flips him over, and he fu--
89	-->''Lynn enters the room.''
90	-->'''Michael:'''--and fu-- and funnily enough it landed on all four wheels and they drove away.
91	-->'''Alan:''' Strangest story I've ever heard.
92	* LoonyFan: [[spoiler:Jed Maxwell, Alan's "biggest fan," has an [[StalkerShrine entire room of his house covered in photos of him]], complete with a life-size mannequin. He also has a larger-than-life-size tattoo of Alan's face covering his entire torso.]]
93	-->[[spoiler:'''Jed:''' ''[proudly]'' It took fourteen hours! I fainted three times!]]
94	* MailOrderBride: Sonya, Alan's Ukrainian girlfriend. Also Michael's Thai wife who "didn't fit in with the culture in Newcastle," and left him to move to... Sunderland.
95	* MrFanservice: John, the muscular builder in Series 2.
96	* MomentKiller: Lynn decides that Alan's date with Jill is a good time to deliver his fungal foot powder. Also before he gets into bed with her, there's an awkward moment where he inadvertently compares her to a prostitute.
97	* {{Narcissist}}: Alan is extremely arrogant and believes he's better than most people he comes across. He genuinely thinks that he's a celebrity and should be treated as such, and one of his main driving forces throughout the series is getting other people to recognize it.
98	* NoSocialSkills: The great irony of Alan Partridge's life is that he is desperate to be a famous and beloved television chat personality, but possesses almost no charm, charisma or sociability whatsoever.
99	* OffTheWagon: Alan's Radio [[UsefulNotes/EastAnglia Norwich]] colleague, Dave Clifton, which Alan [[DudeNotFunny brings up on-air]] when they're VolleyingInsults: "...you're back on the ''boddle''!"
100	* {{Oireland}}: Alan dispelling his list of Irish stereotypes to the Creator/{{RTE}} executives has the opposite effect, compounded by making conversation about the Great Famine over breakfast.
101	* OverlyLongGag: "Dan. Dan. Dan! Dan! ''Dan! Dan!'' '''''Dan! Dan!'''''" (Dan is too far away to hear him.)
102	* PrecisionFStrike:
103	** Alan's response when Dave Clifton attempts a series of traffic cone {{pun}}s. Dave is genuinely shocked, and points out they're on the air, to which Alan smugly responds that they're now in Dave's slot and therefore it's his problem.
104	** One of the very last jokes of the second series; having imparted a fan with a Blue Peter-related anecdote, having been criticised for them, Alan caps it off with "...needless to say, ''I'' had the last laugh, now ''FUCK OFF''."
105	* RunningGag: Frequent mentions of Bill Oddie. (In RealLife, Bill Oddie thinks this is [[http://www.empireonline.com/interviews/interview.asp?IID=1758 hilarious.)]]
106	--> '''Sophie''': Oh, there was a call for you. A Mr. Nesshead rang.
107	--> '''Alan''': Right. Never heard of him. Did he leave a first name?
108	--> '''Sophie''': No, it was just a Mr. P. Nesshead.
109	--> '''Alan''': Sophie, that’s a crank call. That’s another crank call.
110	--> '''Sophie''': [Smirking] Is it?
111	--> '''Alan''': Read it back to yourself.
112	--> '''Sophie''': Oh yeah, I can see what he’s done now. Shall I put it on the list with all the others?
113	--> '''Alan''': If you would. Actually, can I have a look at that list? I want to get to the bottom of this. [Reading] "Mr. G. String... Mr. Nick Hers... Y. Front... Mr. T. Osser"? That doesn’t even work! "Mr. B. Oddie"? This is Bill Oddie! It’s not a prank call. Why have you put it on there?
114	--> '''Susan''': Well, we thought it looked like "body."
115	--> '''Alan''': What’s rude about a body?
116	--> '''Sophie''': ''[{{beat}}]'' Tits?
117	** Sue Cook is mentioned to a lesser extent as another of Alan's celebrity friends. Cook, in reality, is inoffensive and mild-mannered, but in the Alan universe she becomes a foul-mouthed and abusive heavy smoker. (Cook reportedly enjoyed the joke and sent a letter to Coogan after the series, "apologising" for her behaviour.)
118	* {{Sequel}}: To ''Series/KnowingMeKnowingYouWithAlanPartridge'')
119	* SexyDiscretionShot: Alan dimming the light at Jill's request. Thankfully he dims it [[FadeToBlack all the way]] and saves us a bit of FanDisservice.
120	* SimilarSquad: Dan Moody, owner of Kitchen Planet. Alan bumps into him at the BP mini-mart and they hit it off instantly. Alan later declares to Lynn that Dan is his new best friend. [[spoiler:It doesn't last, of course. By the end of the episode, Dan and his wife have invited Alan to have a threesome. Alan leaves their home in disgust and Dan is never seen again.]]
121	* SoundEffectBleep:
122	** Alan finds a few suitable farm animal noises to use on the angry farmers.
123	** The hilariously distracting "[[FunnyBackgroundEvent background]]" traffic noise he uses for a traffic report in series 2, which has Alan delivering a screamed bleeped-out ClusterFBomb.
124	--> '''BG''': [BEEP BEEP] Get out the way, you f---ing idiot! [HONK] You could get a bus through there, you f---ing c--t! [HONK] You stupid ----ing ----, LET ME THROUGH! [AIRHORN] GO!! THERE'S NOTHING THERE!! ''GO!!!!''
125	--> '''Alan''': We've got a report -
126	--> '''BG''': [HONK HONK]
127	--> '''Alan''': [turns it off] Gonna just get rid of that, it's annoying.
128	* StalkerShrine: [[spoiler:Jed Maxwell, Alan's LoonyFan, has a whole room of his house devoted to Alan Partridge memorabilia. Also ''David Copperfield'', though he is, as Alan points out, losing the battle for wall space.]]
129	* SundayIsBoring: One of Alan's many gaffes while talking to two Irish TV execs is revealing that he's under the impression ''[[Music/{{U2}} Sunday Bloody Sunday]]'' is about how boring Sundays are.
130	* TakeOurWordForIt: Whatever it is that Alan keeps in his dresser drawer. According to WordOfGod (i.e. Coogan, on the commentary), it's exactly what you think it is. Yes, one of ''those''.
131	* UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Alan.
132	* VocalRangeExceeded: Alan's rendition of "Close to You," where he starts too high, tries to correct for it, then just gives up.
133	* WakingNonSequitur: Frequently happens with Alan. He even blurts out "Hey, sexy!" on live radio during the handover to the next show.
134	-->'''Alan:''' ''...I'll fight you!'' Sorry.
135	* WittyBanter: Subverted. The on-air interactions between Alan and Dave ostensibly aim for this, but as they are two not-particularly-witty men who genuinely detest each other, the effect is somewhat lost.

Context Series / ImAlanPartridge