Coming home to Norwich after a year working in Saudi Arabia, Alan Partridge makes a return to television at 9.30pm - to produce, present and direct ‘Britain’s first ever documentary about mental health’. How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge) will air on BBC One and iPlayer from 9.30pm. Steve Coogan and his co-writers the Gibbon Brothers previously spoke about the character’s return at a screening – as we covered here – but here’s a new Q&A issued by the BBC:
What can viewers expect from How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge) and where does it find Alan?
Alan has been in Saudi Arabia nursing his wounds after he was fired by the BBC, but he has now done a new self-funded series (with some sponsorship from Flench and Sun Tanning Centres). It’s a documentary series on mental health, which is why it’s called How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge) where Alan examines the state of the mental health of the nation and also our individual states of mental health.
You mention Saudi Arabia. Why there?
He found that there's an expat audience in Saudi that fit his demographic, Alan appeals to them and they appeal to Alan. So, he had a little professional vacation for the last two years in Saudi Arabia, where he hosted things from Today At The Riyadh Stock Exchange, right through to Happy Birthday Crown Prince.
You’ve been playing Alan for over 30 years, what keeps him creatively interesting to you?
Some people ask: ‘why don't you do lots of different characters?’ And Icould do that, but the character is so well known now that you can take him on these strange little journeys. You don't need to introduce the character any more as everyone knows him, so you can go off on these adventures and put him in strange places and different situations and different contexts.
He's just a conduit for what's going on in the world, so when something happens or there's a change of the zeitgeist, or people have different views on things or things shift in the national psyche, Alan can reflect all that.
When you revisit him do you feel like you're slipping back into something familiar?
Yes. I have a strange relationship with Alan Partridge, because many years ago I did lots of different characters and then I sort of settled on Alan as he seemed to be the most fruitful. Then I felt like I was saddled with him, so I went off to do some other things and I got recognition for things, like Philomena that got lots of Oscar nominations, and then I got Bafta nominations for things that were non-Alan.
So that felt like I’d exorcised the ghost and then I thought I'd come back to Alan, I feel like he's my friend. It's like living with a friend who gets on my nerves, then once you move away you become friends again and you meet up with them and you’re on an equal footing - that's my relationship with Alan.
Do you think Alan is growing or do you think it's his inability to grow that fuels the comedy?
I think Alan wants to grow, wants to be modern, wants to be relevant, but can't quite manage it and that's why people laugh at him. I think younger people still like watching Alan because they see their parents trying to be trendy, God forbid, and they see their parents’ clumsy attempts to be on message, if you like.
Are you surprised by Alan's popularity with younger audiences?
I'm very pleased with Alan’s relevance to younger people because it means I can milk it for a few more years!
It's definitely a cross- generational thing, I often meet parents with grown up children where they all like Alan Partridge.
I did used to wonder how it would be relatable, but of course, in the old days, it wasn't so much - it was just that the parents were younger, and they would think, ‘Oh, that could be me!’ I sometimes say things like: ‘Thank God I'm not as bad as he is’, so there is some vicarious pleasure in it.
Do you think this show says something about the way British society engages with mental health?
Well, yes. The thing about Alan is that you can use him to talk about difficult subject matters.
Because it’s comedy, it creates this safe space - it’s through the lens of a character, so it is a way of talking about things. The way we write it, Alan might say things that are inappropriate or problematic - Alan's whole life is definitely problematic - but I think it's a way of talking about stuff, which takes the curse off it, it makes it enjoyable and not scary.
Strangely [although] I think it’s a cynical move [for Alan] to talk about mental health, it actually does help people talk about it. Although the series is funny and irreverent, it does actually throw up a lot of genuine issues, so it's not just frivolous.
You touched on the writing of the series, you've worked with writers and directors Neil and Rob Gibbons for years, what is that collaboration like?
I really enjoy writing with them. It's always enjoyable, sometimes they go off and write by themselves, reassemble stuff together, and then we talk it through and ‘workshop’ it.
I know that when I'm going to meet them that I'll be laughing that day. We have lunch, go back and discover stuff and laugh and it's enjoyable because you know other people are going to be laughing at the thing that you've just created. It’s really, really pleasurable and they're very funny.
They have slightly different roles, Rob is slightly harder to make laugh than Neil, so I know if Rob's laughing, then it’s definitely funny - so he's a good barometer in that respect.
They are almost an overlapping Venn diagram, but there's a slight difference in their personalities, they both bring something slightly different. They shepherd me, I’m sometimes slightly directionless – I'm quite creative – but they say ‘go this way’ or nudge me that way, they'll give me quite critical and specific direction.
For example, they'll say, remember to go down on the last word in that sentence because it's funnier than if you go up on the last word of that sentence. It can be quite detailed direction, but
it’s a testament to how much they're invested in how it's executed because they manage me creatively.
Do you think younger viewers will see Alan Partridge differently from the viewers that grew up watching Knowing Me Knowing You?
Yes, younger viewers definitely see Alan differently because Alan has changed and he's not a small-minded, uber-conservative, white Little Englander now, he’s someone who realises that if you want a career in television, you have to get with the programme.
He knows that, so he's desperately trying to appear to be beyond reproach in terms of new protocols and new ways of behaving. I think what’s funny is seeing someone appearing to be on message, but grappling with it and you're not entirely sure whether he's sincere or not. And that's funnier than someone just being unpleasant or bigoted – it's funny to have somebody who's trying to be good.
What has been your favourite Alan Partridge moment that you’ve filmed?
Crikey! Favourite Partridge thing that we've filmed I think is Alan herding sheep. I literally herded sheep, it wasn't an act!
What I enjoyed about it was that Alan’s really good at herding sheep, which is not what you’d expect – you’d think he’d make a hash of it. He’s absolutely delighted about how good he is at it and offers to volunteer for the shepherd, he says if I have any spare time just call me and I’ll come and help you herd the sheep. The shepherd gave me a few words to say: ‘come by, walk on.’
Who is the most unexpected celebrity fan of Alan Partridge?
The chairman of the All-Ireland hurling team. That is true.
Do you think Alan has what it takes to be the next Jame Bond?
I think Alan thinks he's probably too old, but thinks had he taken a different fork in the road in his thirties or his twenties, maybe he would have thought that he could have been in that universe. I think he sometimes sheds a tear, but that horse has left the stable.
What would be Alan’s ideal meal deal?
Prawn cocktail, steak and chips, black forest gateau. Alan doesn’t eat at any fast food outlet.
What's Alan's go-to motorway services?
I think he likes Heston service station because it was one of the first ones when the first stretch of the M4 opened in the late 1960s I believe. He’s also a big fan of Lancaster Service Station because it has a brutalist flying saucer on a kind of a shaft and it looks very futuristic and Alan likes that.
What is Alan’s ideal date night?
A barbecue outside a camper van with Julia Bradbury in the Shropshire countryside.
Three things that we don't know about Alan?
Alan sometimes dreams that he is a female Olympic gymnast and that he scores ten out of ten on the beam and does a somersault and he realises he's beat the Russians.
Alan has part of a stethoscope inside him after a bungled operation he had in his forties.
Alan was once slapped in the face by a nun in the Duomo Cathedral in Palermo when hewas 25 years old.
