Alan Partridge: Why, When, Where, How And Whom?
- TV documentary
- BBC Two
- 2017
- 1 episode
Documentary about the character of Alan Partridge. Features Steve Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Patrick Marber, Peter Baynham, Rebecca Front and more.
Press clippings
There were many frissons of delight in this documentary looking back at Partridge's legacy, not least the realisation that the humour has aged not one bit. It is the humour of desperation, awkwardness and of a sublime lack of self-knowledge: and Coogan does it even better than Cleese, and has done ever since (as we find out here, with so many sharp talking heads) he paused an early radio recording to nip off to Lilywhites and re-emerged in the studio emblazoned with Pringle's finest sports-casual. In that moment Partridge was born.
I suspect we need him now even more than then, as a Greek chorus to our desperately febrile times, and a reminder that we will not - do not deserve to - survive without the ability to laugh at and with ourselves.
Euan Ferguson, The Guardian, 2nd January 2018TV Review: Alan Partridge documentary
The BBC's Partridge retrospective shows that the character's versatility has been key to his success. Despite Coogan's initial fears that the character wasn't substantive enough, Alan Partridge has moved beyond his origins as a spoof of sports commentators and become something else entirely.
Bethan Ackerley, The National Student, 29th December 2017Alan Partridge: Why, When, Where, How and Whom? review
A celebratory look at the 25-year career of Steve Coogan's creation revels in the pathos behind the sports-casual wear.
Emine Saner, The Guardian, 28th December 2017Presumably, Alan Partridge is a fan of Chinese philosopher Sun Tzu, who once said: "If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by." So it has proved for Alan, who, in 2018, will finally find himself back on the BBC after years in the wilderness. No doubt he'll be typically gracious about the whole thing. This doc explores one of the most three-dimensional comedy creations of all time.
Phil Harrison, The Guardian, 27th December 2017The making of Alan Partridge
Twenty years on from the first series of I'm Alan Partridge, the Norwich based comedic creation is returning to the BBC.
Finlay Greig, i Newspaper, 27th December 2017Alan Partridge: Why, When, Where, How and Whom? review
If you are feeling as over-stuffed on seasonal jollity as you are on pigs in blankets then, surprisingly, this Alan Partridge documentary might be just in order.
Bernadette McNaulty, i Newspaper, 27th December 2017Alan Partridge: Why, When, Where, How and Whom?: review
This documentary proved Partridge is more relevant than ever.
Ed Cumming, The Telegraph, 27th December 2017Review - Alan Partridge: Why, When, Where, How and Whom
Review of documentary covering Steve Coogan famous character.
Owen Richards, The Arts Desk, 27th December 2017Review - Alan Partridge: Why When Where How and Whom?
Steve Coogan's monstrous comic icon is all set to return to the BBC next year with a new Brexit-related show, so as a nice curtain-raiser this documentary about Alan Partridge works as both a laugh-packed clips show and a history of the spoof celebrity who put Norwich on the map.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 24th December 2017Preview: Alan Partridge: Why, When, Where, How & Whom?
This richly textured account of the craft involved in that early development and the ongoing story of how, through Coogan's virtuoso performance, Alan remains one of the most beloved comic creations of the last few decades.
Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 11th December 2017