Alan Gordon Partridge is an English comedy character portrayed by Steve Coogan. A parody of British television personalities, Partridge is a tactless and inept broadcaster with right-wing views and an inflated sense of celebrity. Since his debut in 1991, he has appeared in radio and television series, books, podcasts and film.
Partridge was created by Coogan and Armando Iannucci for the 1991 BBC Radio 4 comedy programme On the Hour, a spoof of British current affairs broadcasting. In 1992, Partridge hosted a spin-off spoof chat show, Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge. On the Hour transferred to television as The Day Today in 1994, followed by Knowing Me, Knowing You later that year. In 1997, the BBC broadcast I'm Alan Partridge, a sitcom written by Coogan, Iannucci and Peter Baynham about Partridge's life in a roadside hotel working for a Norwich radio station. It earned two BAFTAs and was followed by a second series in 2002.
After a hiatus, Partridge returned in 2010 with a series of shorts, Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge, written with Rob and Neil Gibbons, who have cowritten every Partridge project since. Over the following years, Partridge expanded into other media, including the spoof memoir I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan (2011) and the feature film Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013). In 2019, Partridge returned to the BBC with This Time with Alan Partridge, a spoof of magazine shows such as The One Show, followed by an Audible podcast in 2020 and a touring show in 2022.
Coogan said Partridge began as a "one-note" character, but slowly became more complex and empathetic. While the writers use Partridge to satirise bigotry and privilege, they also aim to create empathy. Critics have praised Partridge's complexity, realism and pathos. Vanity Fair called him a British national treasure and The Guardian described him as "one of the greatest and most beloved comic creations of the last few decades". In a 2001 poll by Channel 4, Partridge was voted seventh in their list of the 100 greatest TV characters. Partridge is credited with influencing cringe comedies such as The Inbetweeners, Nighty Night and Peep Show.
