Steve Coogan talks Partridge with Chris Moyles on Radio X
Steve Coogan was on The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X this morning talking all things Alan Partridge including the possibility of a prequel.
He also revealed what he thinks happened before Alan returned to TV in ‘This Time with Alan Partridge’ and how he made it back on TV.
Chris admitted he sometimes that he takes TV characters too seriously and too literally but puts it down to a respect for the comedy.
Steve said that he didn’t think there’s anything wrong with that but he believes Alan Partridge exists in a parallel universe.
“Well, the main problem is the timeline because we never know… because he’s been around so long and we’ve obviously constructed this life,” Coogan explained. It’s like the iceberg thing, you have to build all this stuff up beneath the surface to… if there’s a bit poking out above the surface, there’s all this other stuff you can’t see.
“We had to build a life for him with, you know, where he went to college and people he knew in the past. And it’s all written down there. So we can’t contradict it and we have to respect that. And but the thing is sometimes we do slip-up. But you know, it is sort of like a fictitious life that’s created.
“Diehard fans know this stuff, they go ‘well, you said that then’ and so sometimes we have to employ an archivist just to really go back and say ‘let’s make sure.’ You know, we can put in details he hasn’t spoken of before, but we can’t just ride roughshod.”
Chris asked about Partridge’s timeline, saying: “Alan Partridge works for North Norfolk Digital. And then there’s a bit of a gap, and then Alan Partridge is on TV, back on the BBC, doing ‘This Time’, and I want to know what happened in the missing years?”
Coogan answered: “For Series One, in our fictional to BBC world, there was a presenter who Alan was filling in for who dies played by Peter Wright, and when he dies, we realise that there are some murky things about his past that are very problematic for the BBC. And they’re sort of in a pickle because they have no one to replace him.
“Now, Alan might not be woke, well he attempts to be, but he’s clearly not part of the woke generation. However, the BBC knows that it has to satisfy those kind-of un-woke, Brexit – northerners especially – who elected Boris Johnson.
“There’s huge swathes of them out there. And part of their remit is they can’t just be pandering to the metropolitan elite, they have to reach out to those people up there. Who better to do that than Alan Partridge, so that’s why he got the job. There you go. So you’re saying that you take it seriously!”
Chris said that it was a great answer, but still had questions: “How did he get to fill in for [the] presenter in the first place? I think this is an opportunity, Dominic and I will write it [a script] and send it thanks. What happened between…”
Oh go on, have you got a suggestion?” Coogan asked. “So, the idea of doing a prequel in Alan’s life and going back and telling stories, that isn’t contemporaneous, is quite appealing?”
Chris answered that it wouldn’t be that far back, it would only be a few years, to which Coogan joked that it meant he wouldn’t have to do CGI to get rid of his crow’s feet!
“No, it wouldn’t be like Alan’s just left college,” Chris explained, and Steve laughed as he replied: “That would be weird CGI to try and make me look 18!”
Tune into The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X, weekdays from 6:30am – 10am and Saturdays 8am – 11am