British Cultural Artifact #1: Alan Partridge

Where else could I start. The man is a national legend.

A brief life story: he is a fictional character played by comedy mastermind Steve Coogan, and he made his debut on a Radio 4 comedy show called "On The Hour." The show was a news satire -- not a satire of current events, but rather a satire of news itself, the way it is packaged and presented. Partridge was the rather hapless sports desk guy, and when the programme moved to TV as "The Day Today," he remained in that spot, and we could finally see the alarming comb-over and collection of pastel-coloured sweaters that we always suspected he was wearing on radio.




Following The Day Today, Partridge took flight, his fictitious career taking him next to the world of the talk show (or "chat show" as he would very insistently call it.) On 'Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge,' he hosted a chat show in which nothing quite worked -- guests (played by actors) would invariably end up being insulted or offended, and each show invariably ended awkwardly. The genius lay in the details, though: the fact that the staircase down which the guests descended had treads that were a little too wide to be taken one at a time, but a little too narrow to allow two steps on each, requiring guests to sort of stagger or limp down the stairs as they entered; the bemusement with which they responded to Partridge's welcoming catchphrase, "Ah haaaah!" (a reference to the ABBA song from which the show also took its title); and Partridge's passive-aggressive relationship with his bandleader, Glen Ponder. Here's a clip from a show in which he attempted to address weighty political issues, wearing a rather alarming mustache.




And following that, his imaginary trajectory took a downturn. Partridge (we are to believe) is canned by the BBC and vainly struggling to get his career back on track. We follow him in a proto-reality show style, as he attempts to claw his way back up the ladder of light entertainment, while living in a tawdry motel. This most recent incarnation, "I'm Alan Partridge" contains some of the bleakest moments ever to go under the banner of 'Comedy,' and paved the way for worldwide mega-hit The Office. (See this clip, in which he has a crucial dinner with a guy from the BBC)