Steve Coogan has thought about killing off alter ego Alan Partridge
Steve Coogan has admitted he often thinks about killing off his alter ego Alan Partridge.
Steve Coogan has thought about killing off his alter ego Alan Partridge.
The 59-year-old actor-and-comedian has played his tactless TV-and-radio presenter character for over 30 years, but the star has often thought about saying goodbye to the character.
Steve is quoted by the Daily Mirror newspaper as saying: "Part of me wants to kill him off by deliberately jumping the shark in a really bad way – like making a film where I fight Alan Partridge and kill him, but he kills me or something like that.
"Don’t end with dignity on a high - just drive it off a cliff."
Steve created Alan for the 1991 BBC Radio 4 comedy programme On the Hour - a spoof of British current affairs broadcasting, as the show's hapless sports presenter.
Since then, his alter ego has starred in a range of TV shows and specials, films, documentaries and has - more recently - hosted a podcast series called From the Oasthouse.
And after more than 30 years, Steve said he has absentmindedly started to dress like the fictional Radio Norwich broadcaster - including wearing an exact shirt Alan would sport.
He recalled: "It wasn’t just a similar shirt – it was literally the same shirt, the same manufacturer in the same size.
"I looked at it hanging up and thought, 'I guess it’s happened.'"
From October 3, Alan will be back on the box as he makes his BBC comeback in mockumentary How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge).
The series sees Alan - who last appeared on screens in BBC's The One Show parody, This Time with Alan Partridge in 2019 - return to the UK after he did promotional work in Saudi Arabia, the Middle East, and attempt to rebuild his career by doing a mental health documentary.
And ITV's Good Morning Britain anchor Richard Madeley, 69, inspired How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge) - which airs on BBC One - because he sometimes says something "beyond the pale or a bit daft" like Alan.
Neil Gibbons, co-writer of How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge), explained: "When Alan first started, you saw him as a live broadcaster and in those days, there was an expectation of a certain professionalism that Alan obviously fell short of. But these days, you don't really have that.
"People like Richard Madeley are on air because they're going to say something that's beyond the pale or a bit daft.
"We have to build into the premise ways that Alan can have jeopardy. You have to give him a high wire, and mental health is obviously a subject that he knows very little about.
"He's quite scared of it."
