Alan Partridge

Friday, 11 January 2013

ALAN PARTRIDGE Series 2 Alternative Cut Scenes - Very Funny - BBC I'm Allan Partridge

Alan Partridge - Knowing Me Knowing You TV Pilot

Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life (Teaser 1)

Knowing Me Knowing You (Part 1) with Alan Partridge

Open Collage in a new Window

Email the Collage

Loading suggestions ...

Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital city of and largest urban area in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (กรุงเทพมหานคร, pronounced [krūŋ tʰêːp máhǎː nákʰɔ̄ːn] ( listen)) or simply Krung Thep ( listen), meaning "city of angels". Bangkok is by far the most densely populated city in Thailand with about 12 million people. Bangkok was a small trading post near the mouth of the Chao Phraya River during the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 15th century. It eventually grew in size and became the site of two capital cities: Thonburi in 1768 and Rattanakosin in 1782.
Because of its strategic location in Southeast Asia, Siam (later Thailand) acted as a buffer-zone between the French and British colonial empires. Bangkok itself has gained a reputation as an independent, dynamic and influential city. Bangkok is the political, social and economic centre of Thailand, and one of the leading cities in Southeast Asia.
Due to the 1980s and 1990s Asian investment boom, many multinational corporations make their regional headquarters in Bangkok and the city is a regional force in finance and business. Its increasing influence on global politics, culture, fashion and entertainment underlines its status as an Alpha global city. In 2009, it was the second most expensive city in South-East Asia behind Singapore. The city's many cultural landmarks and attractions in addition to its nightlife venues has made it synonymous with exoticism. Its rapid modernization, reflected in the cityscape and the urban society, has left untouched the historic Grand Palace, Wat Arun, Vimanmek Palace Complex and hundreds of Buddhist temples draw about 10 million international visitors each year, second only to London.

wn.com/Bangkok
Downing Street
Downing Street in London, England has for over two hundred years housed the official residences of two of the most senior British cabinet ministers: the First Lord of the Treasury, an office now synonymous with that of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and the Second Lord of the Treasury, an office held by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Prime Minister's official residence is 10 Downing Street; the Chancellor's official residence is next door at Number 11. The Government's Chief Whip has an official residence at Number 9.
Downing Street is located in Whitehall in central London, a few minutes' walk from the Houses of Parliament and a little farther from Buckingham Palace. The street was built in the 1680s by Sir George Downing (1632–1689) on the site of a mansion called Hampden House. The houses on the west side of the street were demolished in the nineteenth century to make way for government offices, now occupied by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

wn.com/Downing_Street
Dundee
Coordinates: 56°27′50″N 2°58′12″W / 56.464°N 2.970°W / 56.464; -2.970
Dundee ⁱ/dʌnˈdiː/ (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Dè) is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and the 38th most populous settlement in the United Kingdom. It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea. Under the name of Dundee City, it forms one of the 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland.
The town developed into a burgh in Medieval times, and expanded rapidly in the 19th century largely due to the jute industry. This, along with its other major industries gave Dundee its epithet as the city of "jute, jam and journalism".
In mid-2008, the population of the City of Dundee was estimated to be 152,320. Dundee's recorded population reached a peak of 182,204 at the time of the 1971 census, but has since declined.
Today, Dundee is promoted as 'One City, Many Discoveries' in honour of Dundee's history of scientific activities and of the RRS Discovery, Robert Falcon Scott's Antarctic exploration vessel, which was built in Dundee and is now berthed in the city harbour. Biomedical and technological industries have arrived since the 1980s, and the city now accounts for 10% of the United Kingdom's digital-entertainment industry. Dundee has two universities—the University of Dundee and the University of Abertay Dundee. A £1,000,000,000 master plan to regenerate and to reconnect the Waterfront to the city centre which started in 2001 is expected to be completed within a 30 year period, with the Dundee Victoria & Albert Museum opening within 5.

wn.com/Dundee
London
London ⁱ/ˈlʌndən/ is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its square-mile mediaeval boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, the name London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region and the Greater London administrative area, governed by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence. It is the world's leading financial centre alongside New York City and has the fifth-largest city GDP in the world (and the largest in Europe). London has been described as a world cultural capital. It was the world's most visited city during 2011 and London Heathrow is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers. London's 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education in Europe. In 2012 London will become the first city to host the modern Summer Olympic Games three times.

wn.com/London
Newcastle upon Tyne
Coordinates: 54°58.440′N 1°36.792′W / 54.974°N 1.6132°W / 54.974; -1.6132
Newcastle upon Tyne (locally ⁱ/njuːˈkæsəl/; often shortened to Newcastle) is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne. The city developed in the area that was the location of the Roman settlement called Pons Aelius, though it owes its name to the castle built in 1080, by Robert II, Duke of Normandy, the eldest son of William the Conqueror. The city grew as an important centre for the wool trade and it later became a major coal mining area. The port developed in the 16th century and, along with the shipyards lower down the river, was amongst the world's largest shipbuilding and ship-repairing centres. These industries have since experienced severe decline and closure, and the city today is largely a business and cultural centre, with a particular reputation for nightlife.
Like most cities, Newcastle has a diverse cross section, from areas of poverty to areas of affluence. Among its main icons are Newcastle Brown Ale, a leading brand of beer, Newcastle United F.C., a Premier League team, and the Tyne Bridge. It has hosted the world's most popular half marathon, the Great North Run, since it began in 1981.

wn.com/Newcastle_upon_Tyne
Norfolk
Norfolk ( /ˈnɔrfək/) is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The city of Norwich is the county town at Norfolk which is fifth largest ceremonial county in England, with an area of 5,371 km² (2,074 sq mi).
Of the 34 non-metropolitan English counties, Norfolk is the seventh most populous, with a population of 850,800 (mid 2008). However, as a largely rural county it has a low population density, 155 people per square kilometre (or 401 per square mile). Norfolk has about one-thirtieth the population density of central London, the tenth lowest density county in the country, with 38% of the county’s population living in the four major built up areas of Norwich (195,000), Great Yarmouth (67,000), King's Lynn (41,000) and Thetford (22,000).The Broads, a well known network of rivers and lakes, is located towards the county's east coast, bordering Suffolk. The area has the status of a National Park and is protected by the Broads Authority. Historical sites, such as those in the centre of Norwich, also contribute to tourism.

wn.com/Norfolk
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland (Irish: Tuaisceart Éireann pronounced [ˈt̪ˠuəʃcəɾˠt̪ˠ ˈeːɾʲən̪ˠ] ( listen), Ulster Scots: Norlin Airlann or Norlin Airlan) is a part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west. As of 2001, its population was 1,685,000, constituting about 30% of the island's total population and about 3% of the population of the United Kingdom. Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, Northern Ireland is largely self-governing. According to the agreement, Northern Ireland co-operates with the rest of Ireland – from which it was partitioned in 1921 — on some policy areas, while other areas are reserved for the Government of the United Kingdom, though the Republic of Ireland "may put forward views and proposals".
Northern Ireland was for many years the site of a violent and bitter inter-communal conflict — the Troubles — which was caused by divisions between nationalists, who are predominantly Roman Catholic, and unionists, who are predominantly Protestant. Unionists want Northern Ireland to remain as a part of the United Kingdom, and generally see themselves as British, while nationalists wish for it to be politically reunited with the rest of Ireland, independent of British rule, and generally see themselves as Irish. Additionally, people from both sides of the community may describe themselves as Northern Irish. Since 1998, most of the paramilitary groups involved in the Troubles have ceased their armed campaigns.

wn.com/Northern_Ireland
Norwich
Norwich (ⁱ/ˈnɒrɪdʒ/ NORR-ij, (also /ˈnɒrɪtʃ/ NORR-ich) is a city on the River Wensum in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom. Until the Industrial Revolution, Norwich was the capital of England's most populous county and vied with Bristol as England's second city.
The urban area of Norwich has a population of 194,839. This area extends beyond the city boundary, with extensive suburban areas on the western, northern and eastern sides, including Costessey, Hellesdon, Bowthorpe, Old Catton, Sprowston and Thorpe St Andrew. The parliamentary seats cross over into adjacent local government districts. 135,800 (2008 est.) people live in the City of Norwich and the population of the Norwich Travel to Work Area (i.e. the area of Norwich in which most people both live and work) is 367,035 (the 1991 figure was 351,340)^{[citation needed]}. Norwich is the fourth most densely populated local government district within the East of England with 3,480 people per square kilometre (8,993 per square mile).

wn.com/Norwich
Ukraine
Ukraine (ⁱ/juːˈkreɪn/ yew-KRAYN; Ukrainian: Україна, transliterated: Ukrayina, [ukrɑˈjinɑ]; Russian: Украина; Crimean Tatar: Ukraina) is a country in Central and Eastern Europe. Ukraine borders the Russian Federation to the east and northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after the Russian Federation.
According to a popular and well established theory, the medieval state of Kievan Rus was established by the Varangians in the 9th century as the first historically recorded East Slavic state which emerged as a powerful nation in the Middle Ages until it disintegrated in the 12th century. By the middle of the 14th century, Ukrainian territories were under the rule of three external powers—the Golden Horde, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Kingdom of Poland. After the Great Northern War (1700–1721) Ukraine was divided between a number of regional powers and, by the 19th century, the largest part of Ukraine was integrated into the Russian Empire with the rest under Austro-Hungarian control. A chaotic period of incessant warfare ensued, with several internationally recognized attempts at independence from 1917 to 1921, following World War I and the Russian Civil War. Ukraine emerged from its own civil war, and on December 30, 1922 Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic became one of the founding republics of the Soviet Union. The Ukrainian SSR's territory was enlarged westward during the civil war shortly before, and after World War II, and further south in 1954 with the Crimea transfer. In 1945, the Ukrainian SSR became one of the founding members of the United Nations.

wn.com/Ukraine

Alan Partridge
Alan Gordon Partridge OBE (Honour Removed) is a fictional radio and television presenter portrayed by English comedian Steve Coogan and invented by Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Stewart Lee and Richard Herring for the BBC Radio 4 programme On The Hour. A parody of both sports commentators and chat show presenters, among others, the character has appeared in two radio series, three television series and numerous TV and radio specials, including appearances on BBC's Comic Relief, which have followed the rise and fall of his career.
Whereas many of his personality defects are apparent in his appearances in shows such as The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge, it is largely from I'm Alan Partridge onwards that his creators began to explore his personality in depth, and most of the observations that follow originated in that show.

wn.com/Alan_Partridge
Armando Iannucci
Armando Giovanni Iannucci ( /ɑrˈmændoʊ jəˈnuːtʃi/; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottishcomedian, satirist, writer, director, performer and radio producer. Born in Glasgow, he studied at Oxford University and left graduate work on a PhD about John Milton to pursue a career in comedy.
Rising quickly through BBC Scotland and BBC Radio 4, his early work with Chris Morris on the radio series On the Hour was transferred to television as The Day Today. A character from this series, Alan Partridge, went on to feature in a number of Iannucci's television and radio programmes including Knowing Me, Knowing You and I'm Alan Partridge. In the meantime, Iannucci also fronted the satirical Armistice review shows and in 2001 created his most personal work, The Armando Iannucci Shows for Channel 4.
Moving back to the BBC in 2005, Iannucci created the political sitcom The Thick of It as well as the spoof documentary Time Trumpet in 2006. Winning funding from the UK Film Council, he directed a critically acclaimed feature film In the Loop featuring characters from The Thick of It in 2009. As a result of these works, he has been described by The Daily Telegraph as "the hardman of political satire". Other works during this period include a operetta libretto, Skin Deep and his radio series Charm Offensive.

wn.com/Armando_Iannucci
Bernard Matthews
Bernard Trevor Matthews CVO CBE (24 January 1930 – 25 November 2010) was the founder of Bernard Matthews Farms Limited, a company that is best-known for farming turkeys and producing turkey products.
Bernard Matthews was born in 1930 in Brooke, Norfolk, the son of a car mechanic and his housekeeper wife. Skilled at mathematics, he won a scholarship to the City of Norwich School, but found it difficult to settle. Resultantly failing exams, the headmaster refused to let him reduce the school's pass-rate, and he left school with no qualifications.
Matthews worked as a trainee livestock auctioneer at Waters & Son between 1946 and 1948. During an auction at Acle market, he saw 20 freshly laid turkey eggs for sale, which he bought for a shilling each, and then acquired the same day a paraffin-oil incubator, which he bought for £1 10s. The venture to raise them in his future mother-in-law's back garden didn't pay off, as he had not calculated for the additional cost of feed for the birds.
After serving his two-year National service in the Royal Air Force, Matthews became an insurance clerk to earn an income, and started his company in 1950, buying more turkeys. He was only able to join the business full-time after spending £3,000 buying the dilapidated Great Witchingham Hall, once the home of John Norris, and filling its 35 rooms with turkeys. While Matthews and his wife lived in two unheated rooms, turkeys were hatched in the dining-room, reared in the Jacobean bedrooms and slaughtered in the kitchens.

wn.com/Bernard_Matthews
Bill Oddie
William "Bill" Edgar Oddie OBE (born 7 July 1941, Rochdale, England) is an English author, actor, comedian, artist, naturalist and musician, who became famous as one of The Goodies.
A birdwatcher since his childhood in Quinton, Birmingham, Oddie has now established a reputation as an ornithologist, conservationist and television presenter on wildlife issues. Some of his books are illustrated with his own paintings and drawings.
Oddie's wildlife programmes for the BBC include: Springwatch/Autumnwatch, How to Watch Wildlife, Wild In Your Garden, Birding with Bill Oddie, Britain Goes Wild with Bill Oddie and Bill Oddie Goes Wild.
After attending Lapal Primary School, Halesowen Grammar School (now The Earls High School, Halesowen) then King Edward's School, Birmingham, Oddie studied English Literature at Pembroke College at the University of Cambridge, where he appeared in several Cambridge University Footlights Club productions.
One of these, a revue called A Clump of Plinths, was so successful at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe that it was renamed Cambridge Circus and transferred to the West End in London, then New Zealand and Broadway in September 1964. Meanwhile, still at Cambridge, Oddie wrote scripts for TV's That Was The Week That Was.

wn.com/Bill_Oddie
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer, musician, and songwriter. Ferry came to prominence in the early 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter with the band Roxy Music, who enjoyed a highly successful career with three number one albums and ten singles entering the top ten charts in the United Kingdom. Ferry began his solo career in 1973, while still a member of Roxy Music, which continues to the present day.
Born in Washington, Tyne & Wear, England into a working class family (his father, Fred Ferry, was a farmer who also looked after pit ponies), Ferry attended Washington Grammar-Technical School (now called Washington School) on Spout Lane from 1957 and achieved nine O levels, then studied fine art at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne under Richard Hamilton. His contemporaries included Tim Head and Nick de Ville. Ferry became a pottery teacher at Holland Park School in London. Ferry formed the band The Banshees, and later, together with Graham Simpson, the band the Gas Board.

wn.com/Bryan_Ferry
Clive Anderson
Clive Anderson (born 10 December 1952) is a British former barrister, best known for being a comedy writer as well as a radio and television presenter in the United Kingdom. Winner of a British Comedy Award in 1991, Anderson began his success during his 15-year law career with stand-up comedy and comedic script writing, before starring in Whose Line Is It Anyway? on BBC Radio 4, then later, Channel 4. He was also successful with a number of radio programmes, television interviews and guest appearances on Have I Got News for You, Mock the Week, QI and The Bubble.
Anderson was educated at Stanburn Primary School and Harrow County School for Boys in London, where his group of friends included Geoffrey Perkins and Michael Portillo. His Scottish father was manager of the Midland Bank's Wembley branch. Anderson attended Selwyn College, Cambridge where, from 1974 to 1975, he was President of Footlights. He was called to the bar at the Middle Temple in 1976 and became a practising barrister, specialising in criminal law.

wn.com/Clive_Anderson
Declan Lowney
Declan Lowney (born 1960) is an Irish television and film director. After directing a short film in 1980, Lowney worked for Radio Telefís Éireann, and directed musical events such as the 1988 Eurovision Song Contest, and The Velvet Underground's Live MCMXCIII. In the United Kingdom, he became known for directing the first two series and Christmas special of Father Ted, which won him a British Academy Television Award in 1996. This got him a job directing the pilot and first two episodes of Cold Feet in 1996 and 1998. After his first attempt at a feature film debut failed in 1998, Lowney directed Wild About Harry in 2000.
Since 2000, he has directed the television series Happiness, Help, Little Britain and Married Single Other. Happiness and Little Britain each secured him another BAFTA nomination, and Help got him another win. As of 2010, Lowney is developing a film about Eddie 'the Eagle' Edwards and is also directing Channel 4 comedy shorts for Irish Comedians The Rubberbandits.
Lowney was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1960. At the age of 12, he began using his uncle's Super 8 camera to make short films, and became the winner of local amateur film competitions. His parents wanted him to go into a career in law, but he decided to continue making films instead. In 1977, he directed The Rose that Bloomed, a documentary film about the 25th Wexford Film Festival.

wn.com/Declan_Lowney
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor. He has worked with lyricist Bernie Taupin as his songwriter partner since 1967; they have collaborated on more than 30 albums to date.
In his four-decade career John has sold more than 250 million records, making him one of the most successful artists of all time. His single "Candle in the Wind 1997" has sold over 33 million copies worldwide, and is the best selling single in Billboard history. He has more than 50 Top 40 hits, including seven consecutive No. 1 US albums, 56 Top 40 singles, 16 Top 10, four No. 2 hits, and nine No. 1 hits. He has won six Grammy Awards, four Brit Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Tony Award. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him Number 49 on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time.
John was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Having been named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1996, John received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II for "services to music and charitable services" in 1998.

wn.com/Elton_John
Felicity Montagu
Felicity Montagu (born 12 September 1960) is an English actress, known for her performances in radio and television comedy series and films.
Educated at Loughborough University and the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, Felicity Montagu has played the foil to a series of prominent comedy characters.
Montagu co-starred opposite Steve Coogan as Lynn, the faithful but put-upon personal assistant, in I'm Alan Partridge and as the huge-breasted, raunchy vicar's wife Sue 2 in Nighty Night, both for BBC Television.
In 2006, Montagu took the leading role of housewife and gang queen Barbara Du Prez in the offbeat comedy series Suburban Shootout alongside Anna Chancellor, Ralph Ineson and Alan Partridge co-star Amelia Bullmore.
Her other television credits include: Ffizz, Lovejoy, Health and Efficiency, Trust, Coming Through, This is David Lander, Wish Me Luck, Tumbledown, The Harry Enfield Television Show, Josie, Paul Merton - The Series, 2point4 Children, A Touch of Frost, My Life as a Popat, Johnny and the Bomb, Peak Practice, Black Ball, The Queen's Sister, Coogan's Run, Doc Martin, Alexei Sayle's Stuff, and Skins.

wn.com/Felicity_Montagu
Gerry Adams
Gerry Adams (Irish: Gearóid Mac Ádhaimh; born 6 October 1948 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is an Irish republican politician and Teachta Dála (TD) for the constituency of Louth. From 1983 to 1992 and from 1997 to 2011, he was an abstentionist Westminster Member of Parliament for Belfast West. He is the president of Sinn Féin, the second largest political party in Northern Ireland and the largest nationalist party. From the late 1980s onwards, Adams was an important figure in the Northern Ireland peace process, initially following contact by the then Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader John Hume and subsequently with the Irish and British governments and then other parties. In 2005, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) indicated that its armed campaign was over and that it is now exclusively committed to democratic politics. Under Adams, Sinn Féin changed its traditional policy of abstentionism towards Oireachtas Éireann, the parliament of the Republic of Ireland, in 1986 and later took seats in the power-sharing Northern Ireland Assembly. However, Sinn Féin retains a policy of abstentionism towards the Westminster Parliament, but since 2002, receives allowances for staff and takes up offices in the House of Commons.

wn.com/Gerry_Adams
Jeremy Kyle
Jeremy Kyle (born 7 July 1965) is an English radio and television presenter, best known for his British daytime television chat show on ITV, The Jeremy Kyle Show. Kyle is also the host of an American talk show of the same name which premiered on 19 September 2011.
From 1986-95, Kyle worked as a salesman for life insurance, recruitment, and radio advertising. He then became a radio presenter and after a brief stint at Orchard FM in Taunton and Leicester Sound in Leicester, he was signed by Kent's Invicta FM in 1996. In 1997, he joined BRMB in Birmingham, presenting the shows Late & Live and Jezza's Jukebox.
In 2000, Kyle moved to the Century FM network, taking this format with him. The show was called Jezza's Confessions. It was broadcast between 9pm and 1am. He won a Sony Award for Late & Live in 2001. On 1 July 2002, he made his first broadcast on Virgin Radio, presenting Jezza's Virgin Confessions every weekday from 8pm to midnight. In mid-2003, he broadcast the show from 9pm to 1am every weekday, and in January 2004 the show went out from 10pm to 1am, Sunday to Thursday. He left Virgin Radio in June 2004. From 5 September 2004, Kyle presented the Confessions show on London's Capital FM. The new programme aired Sunday to Thursday from 10pm to 1am with live calls on relationship issues of all kinds. Capital Confessions came to an end on 22 December 2005 to make way for The Jeremy Kyle Show, a similar show which ran from January 2006 to December 2006.

wn.com/Jeremy_Kyle
Jonathan Ross
Jonathan Stephen Ross, OBE (born 17 November 1960) is an English television and radio presenter, best known for presenting the BBC One chat show Friday Night with Jonathan Ross from 2001 until he left the BBC in 2010. Ross began hosting a new chat show on ITV1 starting 3 September 2011. Ross also hosted his own radio show on BBC Radio 2, and acted as a film critic and presenter of the Film programme. Other regular roles have included being a regular panellist on the comedy sports quiz They Think It's All Over from 1999 to 2006, and presenting the annual British Comedy Awards from 1991 to 2007, and 2009 onwards.
Ross began his television career as a programme researcher, before débuting as a television presenter for The Last Resort with Jonathan Ross on Channel 4 in 1987. Over the next decade he had several radio and television roles, many through his own production company, Channel X. In 1995 he sold his stake in Channel X, and embarked on a career with the BBC. In 1999, Ross took over presenting the Film programme from Barry Norman, and also began presenting his own radio show, while two years later he began hosting Friday Night with Jonathan Ross. For the chat show, Ross won three British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards for Best Entertainment Performance, in 2004, 2006 and 2007. By 2006 Ross was believed to be the BBC's highest paid star. In 2005, Ross was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to broadcasting. Ross has been involved in controversies throughout his broadcasting career. As a result, in 2008 he wrote a semi-autobiographical work titled Why Do I Say These Things?, detailing some of his life experiences.

wn.com/Jonathan_Ross
Kate Bush
Catherine "Kate" Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Her eclectic musical style and idiosyncratic vocal style have made her one of the United Kingdom's most successful solo female performers of the past 30 years.
In 1978, at the age of 19, Bush topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single "Wuthering Heights", becoming the first woman to have a UK number one with a self-written song. She has since released ten albums, three of which topped the UK Albums Chart, and has had 25 UK Top 40 hit singles including the Top 10 hits "Wuthering Heights", "Running Up that Hill", "King of the Mountain", "Babooshka", "The Man with the Child in His Eyes", and "Don't Give Up".
In 1987, she won a Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist, and in 2002, her songwriting ability was recognised with an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. During the course of her career, she has also been nominated for three Grammy Awards. After her 1979 tour – the only concert tour of her career – Bush released the 1980 album Never for Ever, which made her the first British solo female artist to top the UK album charts and the first female artist ever to enter the album chart at Number 1. She is also the first (and to date only) female artist to have Top 5 albums in the UK charts in 5 successive decades.

wn.com/Kate_Bush
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, later George Gordon Noel, 6th Baron Byron, FRS (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was a British poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement. Among Byron's best-known works are the brief poems She Walks in Beauty, When We Two Parted, and So, we'll go no more a roving, in addition to the narrative poems Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and Don Juan. He is regarded as one of the greatest British poets and remains widely read and influential.
He travelled to fight against the Ottoman Empire in the Greek War of Independence, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero. He died at 36 years old from a fever contracted while in Missolonghi in Greece.
Byron was celebrated in life for aristocratic excesses including huge debts, numerous love affairs, rumours of a scandalous incestuous liaison with his half-sister, and self-imposed exile. It has been speculated that he suffered from bipolar I disorder, or manic depression.

wn.com/Lord_Byron
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, LG, OM, PC, FRS, née Roberts (born 13 October 1925) is a British politician and the longest-serving (1979–1990) British prime minister of the 20th century, and the only woman ever to have held the post. A Soviet journalist nicknamed her the "Iron Lady", which later became associated with her uncompromising politics and leadership style. As prime minister, she implemented conservative policies that have come to be known as Thatcherism.
Originally a research chemist before becoming a barrister, Thatcher was elected Member of Parliament (MP) for Finchley in 1959. Edward Heath appointed her Secretary of State for Education and Science in his 1970 government. In 1975 Thatcher defeated Heath in the Conservative Party leadership election and became Leader of the Opposition, as well as the first woman to lead a major political party in the United Kingdom. She became prime minister after winning the 1979 general election.
After entering 10 Downing Street, Thatcher introduced a series of political and economic initiatives to reverse what she perceived as Britain's precipitous national decline. Her political philosophy and economic policies emphasised deregulation (particularly of the financial sector), flexible labour markets, the privatisation of state-owned companies, and reducing the power and influence of trade unions. Thatcher's popularity during her first years in office waned amid recession and high unemployment, until economic recovery and the 1982 Falklands War brought a resurgence of support, resulting in her re-election in 1983. Thatcher was re-elected for a third term in 1987, but her Community Charge (popularly referred to as "poll tax") was widely unpopular and her views on the European Community were not shared by others in her Cabinet. She resigned as Prime Minister and party leader in November 1990, after Michael Heseltine launched a challenge to her leadership.

wn.com/Margaret_Thatcher
Martin McGuinness
James Martin Pacelli McGuinness (Irish: Máirtín Mag Aonghusa; born 23 May 1950) is an Irish Sinn Féin politician and the current deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. McGuinness was also the Sinn Féin candidate for the Irish presidential election, 2011. He was born in Derry, Northern Ireland.
A former Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) leader, McGuinness is the MP for the Mid Ulster constituency. Like all Sinn Féin MPs, McGuinness practises abstentionism in relation to the Westminster parliament. He is also a member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for the same constituency.
Following the St Andrews Agreement and the Assembly election in 2007, he became deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Ian Paisley becoming First Minister on 8 May 2007. On 5 June 2008 he was re-appointed as deputy First Minister to serve alongside Peter Robinson, who succeeded Paisley as First Minister on that date. McGuinness previously served as Minister of Education in the Northern Ireland Executive between 1999 and 2002.

wn.com/Martin_McGuinness
Mick Hucknall
Michael "Mick" Hucknall (born 8 June 1960) is a British singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the British band Simply Red, and is recognisable for his smooth, distinctive voice and wide vocal range, as well as his red curly hair.
Hucknall was born in Denton, an only child. His mother left him when he was three; the upheaval this event caused inspired him to write "Holding Back the Years". He was raised by his father, Reginald (1935 – 5 November 2009), a barber in Stockport. He attended Audenshaw School. It would not be until the mid-1990s that he would finally reconnect with his mother, Maureen, who was by then living in Dallas. As of a 2008 interview, he had only seen her on two occasions since she first abandoned the family.
Hucknall was among the people present at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester in June 1976 where the Sex Pistols were playing. His interest in the music scene led to the launch of his career in the late 1970s, when he was part of the formation of the band Frantic Elevators.

wn.com/Mick_Hucknall
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English musician and singer-songwriter, formerly the lead guitarist, occasional lead singer and principal songwriter of the rock band Oasis. He is currently fronting his solo project, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. Raised in Burnage, Manchester with Liam, Noel began learning guitar at the age of thirteen. After a series of odd jobs in construction, he worked for local Manchester band Inspiral Carpets as a roadie and technician in 1988. Whilst touring with them, he learned that Liam had formed a band of his own, known as The Rain, which eventually took on the name Oasis. After Gallagher returned to England, he was invited by his brother to join Oasis as songwriter and guitarist.
Oasis' debut album, Definitely Maybe (1994), marked the beginning of the band's rise to fame as head of the Britpop movement. Oasis' second album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, reached the top of the album charts in many countries and their third studio album, Be Here Now, became the fastest-selling album in UK chart history. Britpop eventually declined in popularity and Oasis' next two albums failed to revive it. However, the band's final two albums, Don't Believe the Truth (2005) and Dig Out Your Soul (2008), were hailed as its best efforts in over a decade and found renewed success. On 28 August 2009, following an altercation with Liam prior to a gig in Paris, Gallagher announced his departure from Oasis and on 23 October 2009, he confirmed he would embark on a solo career.

wn.com/Noel_Gallagher
Patrick Marber
Patrick Albert Crispin Marber (born 19 September 1964) is an English comedian, playwright,director, puppeteer, actor and screenwriter.
Marber was born in London, England, the son of Brian Marber, a leading and highly-regarded technical analyst, and was raised in Wimbledon. He was educated at St Paul's School, Cranleigh School and Wadham College, Oxford.
After working for a few years as a stand-up comedian, Marber was a writer and cast member on the radio shows On the Hour and Knowing Me, Knowing You, and their television spinoffs The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge. Amongst other roles, Marber portrayed the hapless reporter Peter O'Hanrahahanrahan in both On the Hour and The Day Today, and was involved in a dispute with the comedians Stewart Lee and Richard Herring, who had written for On the Hour, about who had invented the character. Lee and Herring's TV show Fist of Fun would later make several references to their ongoing feud with Marber, calling him a "Cornish playwright" and "Cornish curmudgeon". In Stewart Lee's 2010 book, How I Escaped My Certain Fate, Marber is referred to as a "new Shakespeare".

wn.com/Patrick_Marber
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM (born 18 June 1942) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of the Beatles (1960–1970) and Wings (1971–1981), he has been described by Guinness World Records as "The Most Successful Composer and Recording Artist of All Time", with 60 gold discs and sales of over 100 million albums and 100 million singles. With John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, he gained worldwide fame as a member of the Beatles, and with Lennon formed one of the most celebrated songwriting partnerships of the 20th century. After leaving the Beatles, he began a solo career and later formed the band Wings with his first wife, Linda Eastman, and singer-songwriter Denny Laine.
According to the BBC, his Beatles song "Yesterday" has been covered by over 2,200 artists—more than any other song. Wings' 1977 release, "Mull of Kintyre", became one of the best-selling singles ever in the UK, and he is "the most successful songwriter" in UK chart history, according to Guinness. As a songwriter or co-writer, he is included on thirty-one number one titles on the Billboard Hot 100, and as of 2012 he has sold over 15.5 million RIAA certified units in the United States.

wn.com/Paul_McCartney
Peter Baynham
Peter Baynham (born 28 June 1963 in Cardiff, Wales) is a screenwriter and a British comedian, writer, and performer. He often collaborates with Armando Iannucci, Chris Morris and Steve Coogan and has worked with Stewart Lee and Richard Herring. He is first heard on Morris' early radio DJ slots, often going out to places. Other works not involving the above 'big names' were the "comic book in radio format" series The Harpoon, and animated sitcom I Am Not an Animal. The former was co-written with Julian Dutton and featured the vocal talents of impressionist Alistair McGowan. The latter was written with the help of Sarah Smith (producer of The Harpoon) and had an all-star cast including Steve Coogan, Kevin Eldon, Amelia Bullmore, Julia Davis and Simon Pegg. He has also appeared on the stand-up circuit as Mr Buckstead, the psychotic poet.
In 2006 Peter co-wrote the film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan together with star Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines and Dan Mazer. In 2007 they received an Oscar Nomination for this.

wn.com/Peter_Baynham
Peter Kay
Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English comedian, writer, actor, director and producer from Lancashire. His work includes That Peter Kay Thing (2000), Phoenix Nights (2001), Max and Paddy's Road to Nowhere (2004), Britain's Got the Pop Factor... (2008) and other independent productions which have included two sell out tours. Kay has sold over 10 million DVDs, a UK record for a comedian.

wn.com/Peter_Kay
Phil Cornwell
Phil Cornwell (born 5 October 1957) is an English comedian, actor, impressionist and writer. He is probably best known as being part of the Dead Ringers television and radio series. Cornwell has co-written and performed principal roles in The Glam Metal Detectives and Stella Street.
Cornwell was born in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. He is popularily known for voicing Murdoc Niccals in the virtual band, Gorillaz. He provided the voices of Mick Jagger and David Bowie for the Steve Wright in the Afternoon show on BBC Radio 1 in the late eighties. These impersonations - augmented by many others, including the series narrator, Michael Caine - formed the backbone of the BBC TV series Stella Street, written and performed with John Sessions. He played the part of Harry Noakes, Captain of the cockleboat Renown in the TV mini-series Dunkirk.
He has appeared in several films made by The Comic Strip, including the role as Dave Spanker in Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown. He also played Dave Clifton, a local radio DJ on Radio Norwich - a fictional radio station in both series of I'm Alan Partridge.

wn.com/Phil_Cornwell
Richard Herring
Richard Keith Herring (born 12 July 1967) is a British comedian and writer, whose early work includes his involvement in the double-act, Lee and Herring. He is described by the British Theatre Guide as "one of the leading hidden masters of modern British comedy". He has written and performed in a body of live one-man comedy shows including the acclaimed Talking Cock and the resulting book of the same name. He has collaborated with the broadcaster Andrew Collins, initially on the radio series Banter, then on Collins' BBC 6 Music show and Collings and Herrin Podcast.
During the 2000s, Herring has toured with a new stand-up show almost every year. His 2009 show Hitler Moustache was the subject of much controversy, but also received critical approval and sold out for the entire Edinburgh Festival. His 2010 show Christ on a Bike: The Second Coming received several 4 and 5 star reviews and was taken on a 94 date tour of the UK in the Spring of 2011. It was the subject of protests from Christians in Glasgow. and Lowestoft

wn.com/Richard_Herring
Roger Daltrey
Roger Harry Daltrey, CBE (born 1 March 1944), is an English singer, musician, songwriter and actor, best known as the founder and lead singer of English rock band The Who. He has maintained a musical career as a solo artist and has also worked in the film industry, acting in a large number of films, theatre and television roles and also producing films. In 2008 he was ranked number 61 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 greatest singers of all time.
Roger Harry Daltrey was born in the Hammersmith area of London, but was brought up in Acton, the same working class suburban district that produced fellow Who members Pete Townshend and John Entwistle. He was one of three children born to parents Irene and Harry Daltrey, and grew up with two sisters, Gillian and Carol. Harry Daltrey worked for a water closet manufacturer, and Irene Daltrey was told she would be unable to have children because of losing a kidney in 1937. Nevertheless, she went into labour during a World War II air raid and gave birth to her son at the nearby Hammersmith Hospital, West London. At the age of three, the young Roger swallowed a rusty nail which had to be surgically removed, leaving a visible scar. At the age of five, the rust from the nail caused an ulcer in his stomach which required him to be hospitalised.

wn.com/Roger_Daltrey
Ross Kemp
Ross James Belshaw Kemp (born 21 July 1964) is a BAFTA award-winning English actor, author and journalist, who rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders. Since 2006, Kemp has received international recognition as an investigative journalist for his critically acclaimed and award-winning documentary series Ross Kemp on Gangs.
Before becoming publicly known, Kemp made a TV commercial for Kellogg's Fruit 'n Fibre breakfast cereal. His first credited television appearance was in 1986, playing Graham Lodsworth in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale Farm (now Emmerdale). He was infamously thrown off set of Emmerdale after reportedly stubbing his toe on a prop and proceeding to violently attack the prop and claim that all props should be 'burnt alive' . He then ironically made guest appearances in episodes of London's Burning where he was seen throwing numerous props into the on-set fire, and Birds of a Feather. He was in a film called Playing Away in 1986 in a minor role alongside Neil Morrissey.

wn.com/Ross_Kemp
Simon Pegg
Simon Pegg (born Simon John Beckingham; 14 February 1970) is an English actor, comedian, writer, film producer, and director. He is best known for having co-written and starred in various Edgar Wright features, mainly Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and the comedy series Spaced.
He also portrayed Montgomery "Scotty" Scott in the 2009 Star Trek film, Benji Dunn in Mission: Impossible III and its sequel Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and Thompson in The Adventures of Tintin. Much of his major work has been in collaboration with some combination of Wright, Nick Frost, Jessica Hynes, and Dylan Moran. He also starred in and co-wrote Paul (with Frost) and Run Fatboy Run (with Michael Ian Black).
Pegg was born in Brockworth, Gloucestershire, England, the son of Gillian Rosemary (née Smith), a civil servant, and John Henry Beckingham, a jazz musician and keyboard salesman. His parents divorced when he was seven and he took on the surname "Pegg" after his mother re-married. He attended many schools, including Castle Hill Primary School;^{[citation needed]}Brockworth Comprehensive Secondary School;^{[citation needed]}The King's School, Gloucester; and later Stratford-upon-Avon College to study English literature and Theatre.He studied drama at the University of Bristol and wrote his undergraduate thesis on "A Marxist overview of popular 1970s cinema and hegemonic discourses". At Bristol he appeared in a Drama Society production of Howard Barker's Victory alongside Sarah Kane and David Greig.^{[citation needed]}

wn.com/Simon_Pegg
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter, film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club.
After a troubled childhood and adolescence, during which he was expelled from a number of schools and eventually spent three months in prison for credit card fraud, he was able to secure a place at Queens' College, Cambridge, where he studied English Literature.
He first came to public attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also included Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Tony Slattery. With Hugh Laurie, as the comedy double act Fry and Laurie, he co-wrote and co-starred in A Bit of Fry & Laurie, and took the role of Jeeves (with Laurie playing Wooster) in Jeeves and Wooster.
As an actor, Fry played the lead in the film Wilde, was Melchett in the BBC television series Blackadder, starred as the title character Peter Kingdom in the ITV series Kingdom, has a recurring guest role as Dr. Gordon Wyatt on the Fox crime series Bones and appeared as rogue TV host Gordon Deitrich in the dystopian thriller V For Vendetta. He has also written and presented several documentary series including the 2008 television series Stephen Fry in America, which saw him travelling across all 50 US states. Since 2003 he has been the host of the quiz show QI.

wn.com/Stephen_Fry
Steve Coogan
Stephen John "Steve" Coogan (born 14 October 1965) is a BAFTA-winning English actor, comedian, writer, impressionist and producer. Born in Middleton, Lancashire, he began his career as a stand-up comedian and impressionist, working as a voice artist throughout the 1980s on satirical puppet show Spitting Image. In the early 1990s, Coogan began creating original comic characters which he presented in stage shows, this led to him winning the 1992 Perrier Award at the Edinburgh Fringe, for his show with long-time collaborator John Thomson. The most prominent characters he developed at this time were Paul Calf, a stereotypical lower class Mancunian and his sister the promiscuous Pauline (played by Coogan in drag).
Working with Chris Morris, Patrick Marber and Armando Iannucci for On the Hour and The Day Today, Coogan developed his most popular and most developed character; Alan Partridge, a socially awkward and politically incorrect regional media personality, who developed to feature in his own eponymous television series, Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge and I'm Alan Partridge, which were well received and were nominated for five BAFTAs in total. Outside the UK, Coogan is better known for his roles in films including 24 Hour Party People, The Wind in the Willows, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, Night at the Museum, Tropic Thunder, Hamlet 2, A Cock and Bull Story, The Trip and The Other Guys.

wn.com/Steve_Coogan
Stewart Lee
Stewart Lee (born 5 April 1968) is an English stand-up comedian, writer and director. He made his name in the mid 1990s as one half of the radio duo Lee and Herring, a popular success followed through with extensive touring to built up a loyal live following. He gave up comedy in the early 2000s when he became disillusioned by the business and believed he was doomed to be a cult act with limited appeal who had reached the extent of any potential audience. Lee returned to stand up after co-writing and co-directing the surprise mock Broadway hit Jerry Springer - The Opera. Since then he has returned to the live circuit and though BBC and C4 specials and series, has rebuilt a niche audience and a reputation as an anti populist, anti "after the pub" comedian.
He remains a significant voice in UK stand up despite his refusal to appear on the panel shows that have seen many of his contemporaries eclipse him in ticket sales, if not critical acclaim. Although Lee's audience figures are comparatively low, he usually tours to 400-600 capacity venues and standing outside the comedy mainstream, he is well regarded by critics and has been a regular pundit on BBC political programming. In December 2011 he won the award for best male television comic for his series Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle which also won best comedy entertainment programme at the 2011 British Comedy Awards. A 2009 article in The Times referred to him as "the comedian's comedian, and for good reason" and named him "face of the decade". His stand-up features frequent use of "repetition, call-backs, nonchalant delivery and deconstruction", a device he jokingly ascribes to his tedious, exacting middle-class persona.

wn.com/Stewart_Lee
The Cheeky Girls
The Cheeky Girls are a pop duo consisting of twin sisters Gabriela and Monica Irimia, from Cluj-Napoca in Transylvania, Romania, but based in Britain. After appearing as auditionees in Popstars: The Rivals, they achieved success in the charts with four top ten hits between 2002 and 2004. They are best known for their debut single, "Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum)", which has sold more than 1.2 million copies worldwide.
Gabriela and Monica were born on 31 October 1982 to Doru and Margit Irimia. Gabriela is older by 10 minutes. Their early life in Romania consisted of studying gymnastics and ballet and touring with the Hungarian National Opera. Moving to the United Kingdom with their mother in 2002, the girls shot to fame as the Cheeky Girls after auditioning on the British TV shows, Channel 4's Model Behaviour and more importantly Popstars: The Rivals. Following two appearances on the show with their audition which had judges Pete Waterman and Louis Walsh not knowing what to say (Waterman was later quoted as saying they were the worst act ever), various record companies approached the Granada Press Office. The Press Office contacted Paul Holland at Granada Ventures who was able to secure them a deal with the Multiply label part of Telstar Records. Cheeky Song (Touch My Bum) was swiftly recorded and released in the first week in December. Entering the chart at number two, the single remained in the top five for five consecutive weeks – four of them at number two. In the week before Christmas this was one of three singles from the Popstars: The Rivals show to occupy the Top 3, One True Voice and Girls Aloud held the other two positions.

wn.com/The_Cheeky_Girls
Tim Key
Tim Key (born 2 September 1976 in Cambridgeshire) is an English actor, comedy writer, and performance poet. In 2009, he was the winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Award and was also nominated for the Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality.
Tim Key was educated at Sheffield University, where he studied Russian. Following graduation he returned to his native Cambridge where he eventually joined the Cambridge Footlights. Although Key himself did not attend Cambridge University, his older brother did.
Key was first noticed in the stage production Far Too Happy with the Cambridge Footlights (although not attending Cambridge University itself) which was a sell out at the Edinburgh Fringe and was nominated for a Perrier Award for Best Newcomer. This show also featured comedian Mark Watson and actress Sophie Winkleman.
In 2003, Key returned to Edinburgh directing (with Mark Watson) a sketch show - "Non-Sexual Kissing"; and performing in Alex Horne's "Making Fish Laugh". The latter was nominated for a Perrier Best Newcomer Award.

wn.com/Tim_Key
Victoria Beckham
Victoria Caroline Beckham (née Adams; born 17 April 1974) is an English fashion designer, businesswoman and former singer. In the late 1990s, Beckham rose to fame with the all-female pop group Spice Girls and was dubbed Posh Spice by the July 1996 issue of the British pop music magazine Top of the Pops. Since the Spice Girls split, she has had a solo pop music career, scoring four UK Top 10 singles. Her first single to be released, "Out of Your Mind", reached Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart and is her highest chart entry to date. During her solo career, she has been signed to Virgin Records and Telstar Records.
Beckham has found more success as an internationally recognised and photographed style icon. Her career in fashion includes designing a line of jeans for Rock & Republic and later designing her own denim brand, dVb Style. Beckham has brought out her own range of sunglasses and fragrance, entitled Intimately Beckham, which has been released in the UK and the US. In association with the Japanese store Samantha Thavasa and Shiatzy Chen, she has produced a range of handbags and jewellery. In addition, Beckham has released two best-selling books; one her autobiography, the other a fashion guide.

wn.com/Victoria_Beckham
Vinnie Jones
Vincent Peter "Vinnie" Jones (born 5 January 1965) is an English actor and retired footballer.
Born in Hertfordshire, England, Jones represented and captained the Welsh national football team, having qualified via a Welsh grandparent. As a member of the "Crazy Gang", Jones won the 1988 FA Cup Final with Wimbledon, a club for which he played well over 200 games during two spells between 1986 and 1998. He also previously played for Chelsea and Leeds United. Jones appeared in Celebrity Big Brother 2010, where he finished in third place behind Dane Bowers and Alex Reid.
He has capitalised on his tough man image as a footballer and is known as an actor for his aggressive style and intimidating demeanour, often being typecast into roles as coaches, hooligans and violent criminals.
Jones was born in Watford, Hertfordshire, to Peter Jones (a gamekeeper) and Glenda Harris Jones.
Jones started his football career in 1984 at Alliance Premier League side Wealdstone, during which time he combined playing football with being a hod carrier. He played one season with second-level Swedish club IFK Holmsund in 1986 and helped them win the league.

wn.com/Vinnie_Jones
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966) was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O. Disney, he was co-founder of Walt Disney Productions, which later became one of the best-known motion picture producers in the world. The corporation is now known as The Walt Disney Company and had an annual revenue of approximately US$36 billion in the 2010 financial year.
Disney is particularly noted as a film producer and a popular showman, as well as an innovator in animation and theme park design. He and his staff created some of the world's most well-known fictional characters including Mickey Mouse, for whom Disney himself provided the original voice. During his lifetime he received four honorary Academy Awards and won 22 Academy Awards from a total of 59 nominations, including a record four in one year, giving him more awards and nominations than any other individual in history. Disney also won seven Emmy Awards and gave his name to the Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort theme parks in the U.S., as well as the international resorts Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris, and Hong Kong Disneyland.

wn.com/Walt_Disney

I'm Alan Partridge S01E01 - Part 1

i'm leaving you, you cow!...

published: 12 Jan 2009

author: theifnet

ALAN PARTRIDGE Series 2 Alternative Cut Scenes - Very Funny - BBC I'm Allan Partridge

Word soup, Wordsabix,...

published: 01 Aug 2012

author: JNet66

Alan Partridge - Knowing Me Knowing You TV Pilot

Pilot of Alan's chat show. Guest: Sexy Australian post feminist-feminist Patty Blake (Rebe...

published: 23 Nov 2012

author: SquishedButterfly

Alan Partridge about music

"Wings - the band that the Beatles could have been!" Alan tells about his favorite music a...

published: 03 Apr 2007

author: boeingVSairbus

alan partridge on farming

alan partridge interviewing peter baxendale-thomas of the norfolk farmers' union, on the s...

published: 05 Sep 2006

author: brannonery

S01E03 Watership Alan

...

published: 26 Aug 2012

author: MrNosewiper

Alan Partridge on Free Speech

Alan Partridge discusses free speech in a Pear Tree Factual Online Production. ADD YOUR VO...

published: 05 Dec 2012

author: Lynn Benfield

Alan Partridge - Out & About in Norwich

Ever wondered what Alan gets up to when he's not doing TV and radio shows? Here's a person...

published: 31 Jan 2012

author: TekMediaTube

Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life (Teaser 1)

Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life Alan Partridge takes us on a Partridge pi...

published: 01 Jun 2012

author: asianfilmblog

Knowing Me Knowing You (Part 1) with Alan Partridge

Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge, 1994. Kevin Powell (Greyman45) on bass....

published: 05 May 2009

author: greyman45

I'm Alan Partridge S01E02 - Part 1

I'm not driving a Mini Metro....

published: 12 Jan 2009

author: theifnet

I, Partridge We Need To Talk About Alan

Read Alan Partridge's autobiography now amzn.to Journalist, presenter, broadcaster, husban...

published: 12 Sep 2011

author: bookarmy

I,m Alan Partridge Outtakes

I,m Alan Partridge outtakes from season one...

published: 10 Jul 2012

author: mrwrangler1962

Knowing Me Knowing Yule (part 1) with Alan Partridge

alan partridge...

published: 07 Jan 2011

author: watchingvids3

<li class="playlistitemli thumbnail border_color bgr_color_content font_color">
        <div class="video_facebook">
            <a href="http://web.archive.org./web/20130111171618/http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://wn.com/alan_partridge&t=<%= title %>" title="Share this video" data-title="Share this video" target="_blank" style="target-name: new; target-new: tab;"></a>
        </div>

photo: AP / Channi Anand

An Indian army soldier patrols near the line of control, the line that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan, after a reported cease-fire violation, in Mendhar, Poonch district, about 210 kilometers (131 miles) from Jammu, India, Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013.

India lashes out at Pakistan after deadly Kashmir encounter

The Star

09 Jan 2013

JAMMU, India (Reuters) - India slammed arch-rival Pakistan on Wednesday over a fire fight in the disputed territory of Kashmir in which two of its soldiers were killed, and said the mutilation of one of the bodies was "inhuman". India's Defence Minister A.K. Antony waits to speak at a plenary session of the 11th International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) Asia Security Summit ... REUTERS/Tim Chong ... ....(size: 2.6Kb)

photo: AP / Alexandre Meneghini

In this Oct. 24, 2012 photo, soldiers stop to check a car as they patrol in a convoy near the town of El Alcalde in Michoacan state, Mexico. Knights Templar, a quasi-religious drug cartel that controls the area and most of the state, monitors the movements of the military and police around the clock.

Mexico to compensate drug-violence victims

Al Jazeera

10 Jan 2013

Mexican has enacted a law that will ensure that the victims and relatives of crime are compensated with payments and social services from the state. The law, enacted by President Enrique Pena Nieto on Wednesday, comprises the creation of a fund to pay relatives up to $70,000 in compensation for an innocent victim killed in attacks by drug gangs ... “There are thousands of people who have suffered the ravages of violence ... Share ... ....(size: 18.3Kb)

photo: AP / Jacques Brinon

Kurdish activists gather outside a building where three Kurdish women were shot dead, in Paris, Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013. Police say three Kurdish women have been shot dead at a pro-Kurdish centre in Paris in what the French interior minister is calling an execution.

Three Kurdish women shot dead in Paris

The Times of India

10 Jan 2013

PARIS. Three Kurdish women, including one of the founders of a militant group battling Turkish troops since 1984, were "executed" at a Kurdish center in Paris, the interior minister said on Thursday. Turkey's Anadolu news agency identified one of the victims as Sakine Cansiz, a founding member of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK ... He called it a "totally intolerable act." ... ....(size: 1.7Kb)

photo: White House / Pete Souza

File - Members of Congress, the Cabinet, and Supreme Court applaud as President Barack Obama enters the House Chamber to deliver his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress, Jan. 27, 2010.

Unworthy Governments and the Paine of It All

WorldNews.com

10 Jan 2013

Article by WN.com Correspondent Dallas Darling. "Lay then, the axe to the root, and teach governments humanity. It is their sanguinary punishments which corrupt mankind." -Thomas Paine, "The Rights of Man". If alive today, Thomas Paine would recognize that the United States Government is not worthy of its citizens ... He would caution the People ... Paine would also empathize with ... In another town, Paine would identify with ... (1) Paine, Thomas....(size: 4.8Kb)

photo: AP / NSW Rural Fire Service, James Morris

In this photo provided by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service a wildfire near Deans Gap, Australia, crosses the Princes Highway Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2013.

Australia fires rage across regions with record-high temperatures

Denver Post

10 Jan 2013

Tammy Holmes, second from left, holds 2-year-old Charlotte Walker, left, and Esther Walker, 4, as they find refuge in water as fires rage nearby in Tasmania last week. Joining them were, from right, Caleb Walker, 6, Matilda Walker, 11, and Liam Walker, 9. Record temperatures across southern Australia cooled Wednesday, but the reprieve from the summer's extreme heat is expected to be brief. (Provided by the Holmes family) ... ....(size: 2.9Kb)

timeline:
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001

'Splash!', 'Celeb Wrestling': Crazy Saturday night TV shows - pictures

IMDb

08 Jan 2013

No, this isn't an Alan Partridge idea, it was last Saturday's biggest show on TV - Tom Daley's Splash! ... ....(size: 0.7Kb)

Lady Thatcher isn't the only one to opt for hotel living

The Guardian

07 Jan 2013

The former prime minister now calls the Ritz her home – and she joins a long list of other famous people who lived out their final days in the luxury of a hotel suite. Luxury living. for £285 a night, the cheapest room at the Ritz could be yours. Photograph. Ruby/Alamy ... the glamorous and distinguished, and the somewhat strange ... Even the eventful life that Alan Partridge led in Linton Travel Tavern seems uninteresting by comparison ... ....(size: 5.1Kb)

2013: The 100 cultural things you should know

The Daily Telegraph

03 Jan 2013

7.00AM GMT 03 Jan 2013 ... 2) The Spies of Warsaw Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais’s handsome two-part adaptation of Alan Furst’s gripping 2008 thriller is a story of love, espionage, diplomacy and deceit in the run-up to the Second World War ... 19) Alan Partridge ... Fingers crossed the usual writing team – including Armando Iannucci – can match the rich, lunatic detail of last year’s pseudo-biography I, Partridge....(size: 57.3Kb)

Ones to watch in 2013: Laura Mvula

The Guardian

31 Dec 2012

Her soulful vocals and florid soundscapes have helped this 26-year-old invent a new musical genre – gospeldelia. 'These songs have been a fantastic therapy for me' … Laura Mvula ... gospeldelia ... "I don't think I have a great voice," says the 26-year-old, in the west London studio of her collaborator, Steve Brown, whose credits include producing Rumer and being Steve Coogan's conductor sidekick Glen Ponder in the Alan Partridge TV series ... ....(size: 5.9Kb)

Beyonce, Bridget Jones and Manet: 2013's cultural highlights

BBC News

31 Dec 2012

What are the cultural events to look forward to in 2013? The BBC's arts and entertainment team picks some of the big books, films, tours, exhibitions and shows for the new year. FILMS OF 2013 - Neil Smith ... But its not just comic books that are spawning mega franchises. Every animation house has got to have one, too ... Steve Coogan, meanwhile, will bring his most famous comic creation to the big screen at last in Alan Partridge ... Each ... ....(size: 14.3Kb)

The ones to watch in 2013

The Independent

29 Dec 2012

COMEDY. HOLLY BURN, 32 ... FILM. AIYSHA HART, 24 ... CLASSICAL. RYAN WIGGLESWORTH, 33 ... RADIO. ALICE LEVINE, 26 ... Special One To Watch Buy-One-Get-One-Free Promotion! Totally Tom consists of Tom Palmer and Tom Stourton, two comedy performers who have been making enough of a noise on the margins of various shows, including BBC3's Live at the Electric and Alan Partridge's Mid-Morning Matters, to make it a fair bet that they will get their own ... DANCE ... ....(size: 5.0Kb)

England on show: The places attracting screen tourism

BBC News

29 Dec 2012

The English pub, British stately homes and London's skyline will all take their turn on the big screen over Christmas and into the new year. Tourist operators hoping to cash in on the success of films which take millions at the box office will see a flurry of releases which use England as their backdrop ... A spokeswoman said ... Mr Turner said ... Starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and set in Welwyn Garden City Alan Partridge The Movie ... ....(size: 5.7Kb)

Returning heroes and new sensations

The Independent

29 Dec 2012

The Audience ... A mouthwatering proposition, to be directed by Stephen Daldry. 15 Feb to 15 June, Gielgud Theatre, London. The Book of Mormon ... A Midsummer Night's Dream ... The Alan Partridge Movie ... We'll see him both bringing his greatest fictional character – Partridge, the Pooter of our times – to the screen (Declan Lowney directs) and playing Soho porn king-turned-property magnate Paul Raymond in Michael Winterbottom's The Look of Love....(size: 26.3Kb)

2013: Returning heroes and new sensations

The Independent

29 Dec 2012

Mark Lawson's TV review of the year 2012: repeat shows, goodbyes and reliance on veterans

The Guardian

28 Dec 2012

Photograph ... Displaying an impressive dividend for deliberate investment in home-made fiction, Sky1 and Sky Atlantic had a string of outstanding comedies and dramas and blurrings of the two, including Julia Davis's period satire Hunderby, Ruth Jones's Stella and Steve Coogan's Alan Partridge - Welcome to the Places in My Life, a parody of local TV so brutal that regional transmitter masts must have bowed their heads in shame ... ....(size: 8.4Kb)

Digital Spy's Top 20 Must-Watch Movies for 2013: 10-1

Digital Spy

24 Dec 2012

Alan Partridge ... Steve Coogan's long, long, long-awaited big-screen debut as beloved buffoon Alan Partridge will see the down-on-his-luck radio DJ trying to "salvage his public career while negotiating a potentially violent turn of events"....(size: 1.2Kb)

Outside the Box: Local heroes' standing makes this the year of the statue

The Independent

23 Dec 2012

Coming soon ... The BBC pundit and ex-Liverpool defender Alan Hansen, who features on the song, is also backing a novel called Dangerous Score (Dynasty Press), about a footballer seeking justice for himself after being linked with the disappearance of a young woman ... The spirit of Alan Partridge lives on in the Signal Radio reporter interviewing Stoke City's defender Andy Wilkinson following last weekend's fractious game with Everton....(size: 3.5Kb)

Going down hill fast? There’s a Ski app for that

The Independent

19 Dec 2012

... perhaps for the price, and offer sound advice for anyone seeking to recap or recall actual lessons (because whether you’re Bode Miller or Alan Partridge, there is no substitute for a good teacher)....(size: 1.0Kb)

timeline:
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001

For the former character in Brookside, see Alan Partridge (Brookside).

Alan Partridge
150px
First appearance	Radio: On the Hour Television: The Day Today
Portrayed by	Steve Coogan
Information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Radio and television presenter, conference host
Spouse(s)	Carol (divorced)
Significant other(s)	Sonja (separated - still Alan's cleaner though)
Children	Fernando Partridge Denise Partridge

Alan Gordon Partridge OBE (Honour Removed) is a fictional radio and television presenter portrayed by English comedian Steve Coogan and invented by Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Stewart Lee and Richard Herring for the BBC Radio 4 programme On The Hour. A parody of both sports commentators and chat show presenters, among others, the character has appeared in two radio series, three television series and numerous TV and radio specials, including appearances on BBC's Comic Relief, which have followed the rise and fall of his career.

Character [link]

This section relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (April 2009)

Whereas many of his personality defects are apparent in his appearances in shows such as The Day Today and Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge, it is largely from I'm Alan Partridge onwards that his creators began to explore his personality in depth, and most of the observations that follow originated in that show.

Personality [link]

Partridge is characterised as an insecure, superficial and narcissistic 'wally', concerned largely with status, the level of his public profile and, to a lesser extent, the ostentatious possessions this allows him to acquire (such as his beloved Rover and Lexus cars and Bang & Olufsen stereo systems). Despite being a broadcaster, Partridge is a socially incompetent and awkward character prone to one-upmanship, embarrassing social faux pas and displays of deep insensitivity to social norms. His thoughtlessness and selfish lack of interest in anything beyond his own objectives exposes an unsympathetic character that is disliked and privately lampooned by many of those with whom he comes into contact. Among Partridge's few friends are Lynn Benfield, his put-upon and long-suffering personal assistant whom he regularly humiliates, and Michael, an emotionally tortured ex-soldier from Newcastle upon Tyne. It is notable, however, that he treats even these people with little more than disdain despite expecting complete loyalty from them in return; in the first series of I'm Alan Partridge he does not even seem to be on first-name terms with Michael (who exclusively addressed him as Mr Partridge throughout the two series). Bizarrely, he appears to have a close friendship with Bill Oddie, who even sends Alan Christmas presents. Partridge is otherwise depicted as being unable to forge genuine friendships or connections with other people (who are, seemingly without exception, repelled by his unpleasant and self-absorbed personality).

Attraction [link]

Partridge is depicted as being a sexually repressed and prudish man, uncomfortable and awkward with overt (or even subtle) displays of sexual or romantic feelings, or what he views as being ‘perverted’ sexual practices. He is particularly disconcerted by homosexuality, and despite describing himself as "homosceptic" at one point appears to entertain homoerotic or bisexual tendencies. This is the subject of numerous running gags in I’m Alan Partridge, in particular his numerous efforts to deny his interest in Bangkok "lady-boys" (whom he describes as ‘fascinating creatures’ whilst insisting that he is merely confused by them and not attracted to them) and a recurrent gag in which he will daydream about performing an erotic dance in a peephole Pringle jumper and a vulcanised rubber thong for a selection of men (usually those who can help further his career in some way, such as BBC Chief of Programming Tony Hayers). He is also quite misogynistic, displaying a tendency to objectify and patronise women (who usually view him with some disdain). Despite this, in the second series of I’m Alan Partridge he manages to sustain a romantic relationship with Sonja, a scatterbrained 33-year-old immigrant from Ukraine who is quite devoted to him. Even this relationship, however, is marked by Alan’s open contempt for her, and it is apparent that her affection towards him is largely unreturned and that his relationship with her is mainly based on the boost to his ego that their 14-year age gap provides (which he is frequently heard boasting about).

Family [link]

No member of Partridge’s family is shown on any of the series that he appears in; however, his dysfunctional relationship with them informs much of the background of the show. In his early appearances, Alan was married to Carol; although never-seen on screen, she can be heard in the mock documentary 'Knowing Knowing Me, Knowing You' that accompanies the BBC Radio 4 series of 'Knowing Me, Knowing You' first broadcast in 1993. Their relationship appeared to be under a lot of strain. In the Christmas special Knowing Me, Knowing Yule, Alan attributed his rash and erratic behaviour to the fact that Carol had left him on Christmas Eve. By the time of I'm Alan Partridge, Alan and Carol are divorced, and while Alan lives in a Travel Tavern, Carol remains in their home with her new boyfriend, who Alan describes unflatteringly as "a narcissistic sports pimp" who apparently enjoys protein drinks. During their marriage, Alan and Carol had two children — Fernando (apparently named after the song by ABBA) and Denise — neither of whom is ever seen or heard on-screen. During the run of Knowing Me, Knowing You, Alan states that Fernando is studying Politics at Christ's College, Cambridge. The next references to Alan's children are made in I'm Alan Partridge, in which Fernando hangs up on one of Alan's rambling go-nowhere telephone conversations, and in which a staff member at the Travel Tavern mentions that Denise has an oddly similar appearance to Alan. It is also revealed that Denise has a pierced navel, and that Fernando seems to spend much of his time in bed with a succession of girlfriends. The final mention of Alan's children is an offhand comment in the second episode of the second series of I'm Alan Partridge, in which Alan glibly states that he has access to his children, but that they have no desire to see him.

Ambitions [link]

Outside of his all-consuming quest to be on television, his various appearances often demonstrate that Partridge does not possess a particularly rich or detailed personal life. In I’m Alan Partridge in particular, he is often shown to occupy himself with pointless or needless tasks, seemingly just to give himself something to do. This is particularly evident in the first series episode "Basic Alan", over the course of which he walks to a petrol station to buy 12 bottles of windscreen washer fluid for no apparent reason, spends time driving repeatedly around a ring road and purchases a packet of tungsten-tipped screws which he states he has no intention of ever using. Most of the interests he is depicted as having show him as out of touch with modern society in general; he describes Paul McCartney's band Wings as "the band The Beatles could have been". In "Towering Alan" he claims to have a broad taste in music; he is a fan of Kate Bush, the Electric Light Orchestra, UB40, Def Leppard and particularly ABBA, the music of which is a recurrent theme in Knowing Me, Knowing You. In the second series episode "I Know What Alan Did Last Summer" he enthusiastically plays "air-bass" to the Gary Numan song "Music for Chameleons", and in "Never Say Alan Again" is seen drumming along inside his Lexus to the theme of Return of the Saint which he plays at full volume insensitively at the cemetery whilst having given his assistant Lynn ten minutes to commemorate the anniversary of her mother's passing. The few hobbies he is depicted as indulging in include driving, rambling, birdwatching and collecting celebrity memorabilia.

Political views [link]

Partridge is politically conservative, and his favourite newspaper is the Daily Mail, a right-leaning publication which he claims is "arguably the best newspaper in the world" in the episode Bravealan. He is very pro-law and has a strong stance on criminality, viewing hoodlums and miscreants as "sub-human scum". He also favours the death penalty for treason and murder. Despite these professed views, he appears to have no strong moral compunctions; in one episode he exploits an "all you can fit on a plate" breakfast deal at the Travel Tavern by bringing in a slightly larger plate of his own, a "scam" of which the staff are in fact fully aware but tolerate with amusement. Alan is not a fan of the modern obsession with health and safety, stating on one occasion that political correctness had "gone mad" after being told that naked flames are not permitted on the forecourt of his local petrol station, thus curtailing his plans for a barbecue there. He has admiration for former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and believes she was betrayed by her own party when she was forced out of Downing Street, and in 1997 claimed that the Referendum Party had "more integrity than the whole of the other political parties put together."^[1]

He has commented on the troubles in Northern Ireland stating that he believes both Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness to be very clever men, though that he does not trust either of them as he believes Adams looks like a deputy headmaster and McGuinness looks like a clown without make-up. He displays ignorance over the issues that unfolded in Ireland, once chastising the Irish over the potato famine with the remark, "at the end of the day, they will pay the price for being a fussy eater", and also completely misunderstanding the lyrics to Sunday Bloody Sunday by U2, believing the song to "really encasuplated the frustrations of a Sunday" (both of these conversations happened in front of two Irish television producers in To Kill A Mocking Alan). Alan once caused a security alert at Choristers Country Club by booking a room under the name "The Real IRA".

Fictional biography [link]

Early years and career [link]

Within his fictional world, Partridge was born to Dorothy Partridge on 2 April 1955 in King's Lynn, Norfolk, England, and spent his childhood in Norwich. He was often bullied at school, as we find out in an episode of the original Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge radio show when Alan is hypnotised and regressed to his childhood, and reveals he was called "Smelly Alan Fartridge" by classmate Stephen McCoombs - happily for Partridge now McCoombs has back problems and lives on disability benefits. He claims in his autobiography that this was infantile humour that any self-respecting comedian would have dismissed and that he was particularly sensitive to hygiene issues and if there were anything he did smell of, it would have been Radox and Colgate. In the second series of I'm Alan Partridge, Alan recounts a story about a time he was once caned for having a chalk penis drawn on the back of his school blazer by another student, an incident about which he still feels bitter. The same student also dropped Alan's swimming trunks into a urinal one day at school, despite Alan being his scout pack leader. He appears to have had a lonely childhood, and in a 'Rural Alan' special feature (found on the DVD release of Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge) recounts how he would ramble about the Norfolk countryside in solitude, singing his favourite pop songs.

After passing two A-levels Partridge attended the (fictional) East Anglia Polytechnic. He later married Carol, who gave birth to Alan's son Fernando and daughter Denise. Carol left Alan for a fitness instructor (whom Alan claims to be an "idiot" and a "narcissistic sports pimp"), and took the children with her.

Radio career [link]

Alan worked his way upwards from a position as a DJ on Radio Smile on St Luke's hospital radio, until he left, after arguments with patients. He then began presenting the drive time Traffic Buster show on Radio Norwich, where he stayed for five years and was named sports reporter of the year in 1988. He then became a presenter on the BBC's Scoutabout programme, where he entered into the top eight of BBC sports reporters. Alan soon garnered a slot presenting sports news on BBC Radio 4's On the Hour programme (1991) presented by Chris Morris. On that show Alan suffered from a severe lack of any sporting knowledge and developed a notable talent for mixed and/or nonsensical metaphors.

Alan got his first starring role in 1992 as host of BBC Radio 4's Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge (a spoof chat show with fictional guests). A typical question was "You've just published your autobiography. What's that about?" He managed to offend people on his show who would then attempt to disgrace the host. During his tenure on the show, Alan hit a child genius, unknowingly took cocaine, bribed rent boys, lost his wife's car in a bet, was openly homophobic, forced the resignation of a junior government minister and, in the series finale, his guest Lord Morgan of Glossop died of an apparent heart attack.

There was also a one off spoof-documentary about the show called Knowing, Knowing Me, Knowing You. It provided a behind-the-scenes look at how the show was put together and the antagonism between Alan and those who worked for him, as well as giving insight into the problems with his marriage to Carol.

[edit] The Day Today

On The Hour transferred to television as The Day Today in 1994, where Alan continued as the inept sports reporter ("This is Sports Desk... I'm Alan Partridge"). Here he bungled his way through a feature on the 1994 FIFA World Cup, gave a colourful report on the previous sporting season, made a complete mess of reporting the recent horse racing tournament, and was beaten up by a female martial-arts instructor.

[edit] Knowing Me, Knowing You

The transition to television was to be a success for Alan and was swiftly followed by a television version of Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge. The format was largely the same as the radio show, with the addition of a house band under the directorship of Glen Ponder (played by musical comedian Steve Brown). In the sixth episode, Alan accidentally shot dead one of his guests (Forbes McAllister) on air while examining one of Lord Byron's duelling pistols. He was cleared of any wrongdoing by an internal BBC investigation. The show featured an Alan Partridge tie and blazer badge set which, like the Alan Partridge face mask, was produced but never marketed - instead the famous "Tie and Blazer Badge Set" was included as part of a Boxed Set of videos released towards the end of the 1990s.

In reality, KMKYWAP was a huge success; in the fictional world of Alan Partridge, it suffered from terrible ratings. This was because of "poor scheduling" (The show was aired at the same time as the News at Ten^{[disambiguation needed ]}) and Alan's PA, Lynn, claimed that "the ratings started poorly and went downhill from there". In the end the show was taken off the air at the end of the first series.

In 1995, Alan hosted a Christmas special of KMKYWAP, humorously titled Knowing Me, Knowing Yule. One of his guests was the (fictional) director of programming at the BBC, Tony Hayers (later to become Alan's nemesis, played by David Schneider). Alan, with a characteristic lack of subtlety, was seen probing for a new series of KMKYWAP. However, the show was an unmitigated disaster for Alan, as his attempt at product placement was blatantly exposed, and the show climaxed with Alan punching both a man in a wheelchair and Tony Hayers (twice) with his hand inside a roast partridge. After punching Hayers for the first time, Partridge begged "please don't take my chat away from me", then after punching him a second time declared "I'll never work in broadcasting again". Mick Hucknall of Simply Red then played the show out. It was clearly the beginning of the end of his time at BBC television. He was "kept on the books", as it were, for a short while, but after a particularly harrowing meeting with Hayers at the BBC cafeteria (which involved assault by cheese) he was left in no doubt that his BBC TV career was over.

[edit] I'm Alan Partridge

Partridge next appeared in I'm Alan Partridge (1997), a look behind the scenes of his rapidly failing career. In this television series, he is seen having gained a slot on the fictional Radio Norwich. He continues to cause offence, this time mainly to his listeners. He also has a bad relationship with his colleague Dave Clifton (played by Phil Cornwell), Alan occasionally insults him while introducing him on his show (for example in ‘Alan Attraction’ Alan says "Here's a man who indeed won't be killing anyone with syphilis"). However Dave usually gets the better of Alan except in ‘Basic Alan’ where he tells Dave to "fuck off" after he torments him over a recent incident with a traffic cone, Dave is stunned by this and lays into Alan by claiming that "dead-air is a crime and that it is terrible that he has to fill it with swearing on his show". Alan's comeback refers to the correct time (7.01am) and that it is Dave's show and he is merely a guest whom Dave has failed to control, he then says "Read the smallprint on your cone-tract". By this stage in his life Alan had been kicked out by his wife and, after wandering around a John Menzies for five hours in a state of depressed homelessness, Alan had been forced to take up residence in the equally fictional Linton Travel Tavern, which he chose because it is "equidistant between London and Norwich". The first episode featured Alan meeting Tony Hayers, begging for a new series on the BBC. Hayers was not impressed, and Alan had to wrap up his production company Peartree Productions (a reference to the Christmas Carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas"), firing all its staff including Jill (whom he had feelings for and had one-night stand with; albeit unsuccessful). During his time at the Linton Travel Tavern, we discovered more about Alan's failed marriage, his children and his obsession with "Bangkok Chick Boys". In ‘Watership Alan’ he was crushed by a dead cow after insulting farmers on his show. And in ‘To Kill a Mocking Alan’ he was nearly kidnapped by his "number one fan", a crazed lunatic called Jed Maxwell.

In the final episode, Tony Hayers died after a fall from a roof, and one of Alan's old friends, Chris Feather, took over as head of programmes at the BBC. However, at the decisive moment when the new executive was about to sign a five-year contract, he keeled over and died, forcing Alan to forge the dead man's signature.

The programme itself is not presented as a documentary, but during the in-character commentary on the DVD release, Alan explains that it is in fact a "post-documentary"; all the events depicted in the series took place, but everyone in the show, apart from himself and his personal assistant Lynn Benfield (played by Felicity Montagu), were actors hired to portray them "after they had actually occurred".

Alan's next appearance was in a 1999 half-hour special filmed for Comic Relief in which Alan started to lose the plot, foreshadowing his mental breakdown in the second series of I'm Alan Partridge. A simulcast between BBC Two and Radio Norwich, Alan appears incoherent and incapable of keeping track of the format of his own show. A second Comic Relief appearance followed in 2001, showing him interviewing a boxing manager, played by Peter Kay. Eventually, this resulted in Alan taking on one of the boxers in the ring and being beaten by the boxer, the manager and his friend Michael.

Coogan was apparently reluctant to continue playing the character, but returned for a second series of I'm Alan Partridge in 2002.

In the second series Alan was temporarily living in a caravan while waiting for his new house to be built. Despite his five-year contract with the BBC, Alan claims to his old school teacher "Sweaty" Frank Raphael in ‘The Talented Mr. Alan’ that there was "bad blood" between them and they were "bitter bastards" plus every profession has its "shits", so they had to let him go.

Alan returned to radio, securing the "third best slot on Radio Norwich", presenting Norfolk Nights, a big leap from his former timeslot of 4am to 7am, when he presented Up With the Partridge. Alan also presents a military-based quiz show called Skirmish on the (fictional) cable station UK Conquest, and has a deal with Meteor Productions to make the Crash! Bang! Wallop!... What a Video/Scum on the Run series of car-crash videos.

In the period from his time at the Linton Travel Tavern to his residence in the temporary "static home", Alan suffered a mental breakdown and put on weight, or as he put it, was "clinically fed up" and "repellent to women for two years". This collapse culminated in Alan driving a Vauxhall Vectra to Dundee in his bare feet while gorging himself on Toblerone (in a similar incident, Alan recounts throwing all his tax receipts off a ferry). However, by 2002, his life was firmly back on track, save for the odd glitch. He even had a Ukrainian girlfriend called Sonja, who was 33 years old — 14 years younger than himself (a point Alan emphasises with the smug exclamation, "Cashback!"). This period in Alan's life is documented in his autobiography Bouncing Back, which Alan claims has been described as "lovely stuff" by entertainer Shakin' Stevens.

Memorable moments of this series include Alan dry-vomiting his way through a speech about fireplaces after impaling his foot on a spiked fence; mistakenly getting involved with swingers; attacking a six-foot stuffed Beefeater bear; his summing up the entire opening of The Spy Who Loved Me in less than a minute during a failed attempt at a 24-hour Bondathon; Lynn's baptism at her Baptist church and, of course, the sad pulping of his autobiography which, despite taking up four weeks of his life to write, simply wasn't selling well (partly because every anecdote ended with the phrase "Needless to say, I had the last laugh".) Unfortunately, Alan tells us, it seems the public was more concerned with buying gangster autobiographies like Bad Slags.

The second series saw a move away from the drier and more realistic style of the first, a move that was at odds with more recent sitcoms, most notably The Office. This led to it being less well received than the first. Surprisingly, producer and co-writer of the series, Armando Iannucci states in the commentary to his own DVD of The Armando Iannucci Shows, that he had recently re-watched the second series of I'm Alan Partridge, and describes it as "terrible". On the DVD commentary of the second series of I'm Alan Partridge, Steve Coogan appears surprised at the over-the-top style he used to play Alan in the 2002 series, calling it "big acting".

Steve Coogan's profile on the BBC Comedy website talks of another series featuring Alan Partridge, entitled I'm Still Alan Partridge.^[2] However this was in fact the provisional title for I'm Alan Partridge series 2.

[edit] Anglian Lives

In 2003, Alan again returned to our screen in a half-hour special of Anglian Lives (also known as "Anglian Alan"), a fictional regional BBC show. This was presented by Ray Woollard (Peter Baynham, who had appeared previously in 'I'm Alan Partridge' as the voice box using executive from the boat holiday company in 'Watership Alan') and "Digital Dave", and was basically a sycophantic look at Alan's career, past and present; the credits listed it as being executively produced by Alan himself. It shed more detail on Alan's hatred of London, his Toblerone addiction, and his future.

[edit] Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge and Other Less Successful Characters: Live

In October 2008 Alan returned as part of the tour "Steve Coogan is Alan Partridge and other less successful characters". Alan is now a life coach and claims to have helped such celebrities as Ross Kemp, Vinnie Jones, Jeremy Kyle, and the Cheeky Girls. Also, in a recent interview, Coogan confirmed that Partridge would return at some stage, for either a film or a Television special.^[3]

Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge [link]

Main article: Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge

In August 2010, it was reported that Alan Partridge would make a comeback series online for lager giant Fosters.^[4] On 8 October 2010, it was announced that the new show, entitled Alan Partridge's Mid Morning Matters, would premiere on 5 November 2010 on Foster's comedy site, http://www.fostersfunny.co.uk . In a press release, Steve Coogan announced, in character:

"I am delighted to announce that after years as a regional broadcaster on North Norfolk Digital my groundbreaking radio segment, Mid Morning Matters, will now be accessible to a potential audience of billions via the World Wide Web (www).

That it has taken Foster’s to help realise my dream of joining the information superhighway is a damning indictment of the established broadcasters whose shabby treatment of me on Sept 10th 2001 was frankly shabby. I made dozens of calls the next day, all of which were ignored.

My appreciation must go to Armando Iannucci and Baby Cow for ignoring the lies, God bless them. In the meantime I look forward to “hanging out ‘n’ chillin” with the MySpace generation."^[5]

After the six episodes aired online, in December 2010, Armando Iannucci confirmed on Twitter that "there will be 6 more Alan Partridge Mid Morning Matters starting in February." This series started on February 4, 2011, as episode 7, and ran every Friday until episode 12 on March 11, 2011.

In Mid Morning Matters Alan again works as a disc jockey, this time on the fictional station 'North Norfolk Digital'. He is occasionally joined by 'Side-kick Simon', played by Tim Key, who after Episode 10 is fired due to Alan's gradual dislike towards him. Alan is noticeably annoyed when he discovers that Simon had started guesting as a side-kick on another radio show (a late night comedy show). Much of the comedy surrounding Simon was his failure to grasp political correctness on sensitive issues which Alan would have to cover for when Simon slipped. After his departure Alan recruits a new side-kick, 'Zoe' and quickly develops a crush on her. In the twelfth and final episode of Mid Morning Matters, Zoe reveals she is going travelling for three months much to Alan's disappointment. The episode ends with a shot through the window into the recording booth as Zoe hugs Alan and gives him a kiss on the cheek; there is no sound and it is unknown what Alan has said to warrant this reaction. This is a rare low key ending to an Alan Partridge series with the high point culminating in Episode 10 when Alan scolds Side-kick Simon following a practical joke on Alan.

In Episode 3, released on 18 November 2010, Alan invites listeners to vote for "simply the best of Norfolk" (who is the best person Norfolk has produced?) in which he makes reference to Bernard Matthews ("he is tantalisingly close to producing the ten-pence turkey, now there's a thought..."). Matthews died a week later on 25 November 2010.

Following the series, Alan appeared again as part of the Red Nose Day 2011 set for a one-off show akin to the Mid Morning Matters arrangement, and here Side-kick Simon reappears in his former capacity. Here, Alan interviews a nun over whom he sneezes blood by mistake. The series was written by Steve Coogan, Rob Gibbons, Neil Gibbons and Armando Iannucci.

On 4 October 2011 co-writer Neil Gibbons announced on his Twitter feed that a second series of Mid Morning Matters was in development.^[6] On 10 November 2011 it was reported that the rights to the current and future series of Mid Morning Matters were to be acquired by Sky to be shown on subscriber-only channel Sky Atlantic.^[7]

[edit] I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan

On 22 July 2011, Armando Iannucci announced on his Twitter feed that "Alan Partridge [had] delivered his autobiography to the publishers".^[8] The book was published in the UK by HarperCollins on 29 September 2011, and is entitled I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan. It is available in hardcover and paperback, as well as in CD and downloadable audio and ePub formats, and is also set to be published in Australia on 1 November 2011 and in Canada on 1 December 2011.^[9] Alan Partridge promoted his autobiography on ITV's The Jonathan Ross Show show on 1 October 2011.^[10] It was met with positive reviews and was a commercial success, compared to his fictional last book 'Bouncing Back' which was panned by critics and didn't sell well.^[11]^[12]^[13]

The Alan Partridge Movie [link]

Main article: The Alan Partridge Movie

In August 2004 a small piece appeared in the Metro newspaper which claimed that: "Steve Coogan got the green light from a US studio to play the spoof DJ on the big screen." Coogan reportedly said: "It's always been my plan to make Alan go global. It's what he lives for really, not just doing the show on Radio Norwich." Other sources confirm the film will be going ahead and ITV has reported that Victoria Beckham will be playing a "demanding diva" in the film. Coogan has since denied that Beckham will appear.

In April 2005, Coogan's production firm Baby Cow announced that an Alan Partridge movie was in the pipeline.^[14]^[15] It was later revealed the film would involve an al-Qaeda siege. Due to the sensitivities of such a storyline after the 7 July 2005 London bombings, the project was put on hold,^[16] but in November 2007, further details of the film were released.^[17]

The plot of the film involved Alan Partridge attempting another comeback from local radio, only to have his ambitions thwarted when Middle Eastern terrorists hijack the BBC offices. Coogan had written some dialogue, but has said he is not sure whether he wants to revisit his most famous creation. "Part of me wants to do it, and other things," he said in an interview.^[18] Playwright Patrick Marber, whose early collaborations with Coogan included The Day Today and being the principal writer of both radio and TV versions of Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge, has also been working on the script, but the pair put their plans on hold following the London bombings, for fear the screenplay would appear in bad taste. Actress Felicity Montagu, who plays Partridge's PA Lynne, said last year^[when?]: "There was a lot of talk about it, but then the London bombings happened and it got put to one side. I'm sure Steve will write an Alan Partridge film eventually. But for the moment I don't think it's happening."^{[citation needed]}

In 2005, Armando Iannucci, who helped Coogan create Partridge, said he did not want to be involved in any movie spin-off, saying: "Steve wants to do an Alan Partridge film, but I couldn't bear to go through that again. For me, the idea of spending two more years in a room with that voice is more than I can take". However, in more recent interviews, Iannucci has been more positive about the idea and it is expected that both he and Peter Baynham will be involved in writing the film.

Armando Iannucci revealed in late March 2010 that Alan won’t be travelling to the USA as the rumours have suggested though: “At the moment we’re just deciding whether we should (make an Alan Partridge movie) and the ideas we’ve come up with are very much Alan in the UK and his ideas of what he could be. We don’t see Alan, for example getting Simon Cowell’s spot on American Idol and going over there. That’s too good for Alan. Alan’s future is always brighter in his head than it is in the real world. I think Alan harbours this distortion that, with reality TV bringing back your Keith Chegwins and your Tony Blackburns and so on that his time will come, but it hasn’t come, he hasn’t had that call.” ^[19]

Armando Iannucci confirmed in July 2010 that a film is definitely in the works and that Steve and himself have "now agreed a story for the film. It's NOT Alan goes to America." ^[20]

In November 2011 Peter Baynham said that the movie is happening next year.^[21]

The movie's screenplay is currently being written by Steve Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Rob Gibbons and Neil Gibbons - plus Peter Baynham - with the storyline completed in January 2012. ^[22]

In spring 2012, Armando Iannucci stated that the as-yet-untitled film would be shooting later in the year, released in 2013, and would be directed by Declan Lowney.^[23]

Other activity [link]

In 2004 Coogan also gave an interview with Now magazine, and when asked "Is it true that you're killing off Alan Partridge?", Coogan replied: "No, not at all. What's he up to at the moment? Well, I'd say he's being cryogenically preserved next to Walt Disney. Don't worry. When the day comes that I feel like I need to do something else with him, I'll defrost him and make him funny again."

In November 2008, Coogan stated that he has some ideas for what to do with Partridge next on TV and that he's glad to be well known for playing him, despite it over-shadowing most of his other ventures. "As a character he's given me the opportunity to play lots of other characters and to have other opportunities in film and television. So I can't resent him really. And I enjoy playing him, performing him because it's very comfortable. It's like putting on an old jacket".^[24]

List of appearances [link]

On the Hour (BBC Radio 4, series) 1991
On the Hour (BBC Radio 4, series) 1992
Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge (BBC Radio 4, series) 1992
Knowing, Knowing Me, Knowing You (BBC Radio 4, spoof documentary) 1992
The Day Today (BBC Two, spoof news series) 1994
Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge (BBC Two) 1994
A Christmas Ramble (BBC Two, spoof documentary) 1994
Comic Relief (BBC One, with John Thomson) 1995
Knowing Me Knowing Yule with Alan Partridge (BBC Two, Christmas special) 1995
The Big Snog (Live show in support of gay rights) 1996
I'm Alan Partridge (BBC Two, series) 1997
Clive Anderson: All Talk (BBC One, spoof interview) 1997
Election Night Armistice (BBC Two, political satire show) 1997
Brit Awards (ITV, presenting award for Best Video to the 'not unattractive' All Saints) 1998
Steve Coogan Live: The Man Who Thinks He's It (Live show) 1998
Stephen Fry's "Live from the Lighthouse" (Channel 4, spoof interview with Simon Pegg as an AIDS charity worker and Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher) 1998
Comic Relief (BBC Two, half-hour special featuring Bryan Ferry; Partridge sings a Kate Bush medley) 1999
Comedy Awards (performing a duet with Elton John) 2000
Comic Relief (BBC One, featuring Peter Kay) 2001
I'm Alan Partridge (BBC Two, series) 2002
Anglian Lives (BBC Two, spoof career retrospective - also featuring Peter Baynham) 2003
Cream of British Comedy (Live Show, as well as the live show a DVD was released includes Radio Norwich extras such as Alan meets Roger Daltrey) 2005
Comic Relief (BBC One, monologue; KMKY-style (fictional) interview featuring Simon Pegg as the Milky Bar Kid) 2005
Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge and Other Less Successful Characters: Live (Live tour, Alan was a featured character in Coogan's 2008 live tour, where he has become a life coach) 2008
Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge (Foster's Funny/Sky Atlantic, New Alan Partridge web/TV series) 2010-present
Comic Relief Mid Morning Matters (BBC One, Comic Relief Special of Mid Morning Matters) 2011
The Jonathan Ross Show (ITV1, Spoof Interview with Jonathan Ross promoting his autobiography) 2011
The Richard Bacon Show (BBC Radio 5Live, Spoof Interview with Richard Bacon promoting his autobiography) 2011
Under 1 Roof (Charity show appearance) 2011

References [link]

^ "Alan Partridge - The Election Night Armistice". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkq4HEZNPvE.
^ Coogan's profile, BBC
^ info@hullabaloodesign.co.uk. "BBC Steve Coogan interview: Part 2". Coogans Run. http://www.coogans-run.co.uk/h/steve-coogan-newsitem.php?id=653. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
^ "In pictures: Alan Partridge makes internet comeback". BBC Norfolk. 2010-08-31. http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/norfolk/hi/people_and_places/arts_and_culture/newsid_8957000/8957095.stm. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
^ "Brand New Alan Partridge exclusive to Foster's". Foster's Funny. 2010-10-08. http://www.fostersfunny.co.uk/2010/10/brand-new-alan-partridge-exclusive-to-fosters/. Retrieved 2010-10-08.
^ "Mid Morning Matters series 2 in development". 2011-10-04. http://completelyalanpartridge.net/index.php/2011/10/04/mid-morning-matters-series-2-in-development/. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
^ "Sky Atlantic Acquire Rights to Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge!". http://completelyalanpartridge.net/index.php/2011/11/10/breaking-news-sky-acquire-rights-to-mid-morning-matters/. Retrieved 2011-11-16.
^ Iannucci, Armando. "@Aiannucci Twitter feed". http://twitter.com/#!/Aiannucci/status/94333532759015424. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
^ HarperCollins Publishers. "I, Partridge: We Need To Talk About Alan". http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/Titles/65885/i-partridge-we-need-to-talk-about-alan-alan-partridge-9780007449170. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
^ AlanPartridge.net. "Alan Partridge on Jonathan Ross Tonight". http://alanpartridge.net/index.php/2011/10/01/alan-partridge-on-jonathan-ross-tonight/. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
^ Reviewed by Julian Hall (2011-10-14). "I, Partridge: We Need To Talk About Alan by Alan Partridge - Reviews - Books". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/i-partridge-we-need-to-talk-about-alan-by-alan-partridge-2369985.html. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
^ Edmund Gordon. "I, Partridge by Alan Partridge - review | Books". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/nov/23/i-partridge-alan-partridge-review?CMP=twt_gu. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
^ Nick Curtis (2011-10-13). "I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan - review - Books - Arts - Evening Standard". Thisislondon.co.uk. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/lifestyle/book/article-23997634-i-partridge-we-need-to-talk-about-alan-by-alan-partridge---review.dortridge-alan-partridge-review?CMP=twt_gu. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
^ "Coogan plans Alan Partridge movie'". BBC News Online. 2005-04-19. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4461011.stm. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
^ "I Am Not Alan Partridge'". Channel 4. http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/feature.jsp?id=153754&page=3. Retrieved 2007-08-29.
^ Guy Adams (2006-04-13). "The 'red-socked fop' returns to the fray". London: The Independent. http://news.independent.co.uk/people/pandora/article357391.ece. Retrieved 2007-01-19.
^ John Harlow (2007-11-11). "Aha! Terrorists face wrath of Alan Partridge". London: The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2848081.ece. Retrieved 2008-02-03.
^ John Harlow (2007-11-11). "Aha! Terrorists face wrath of Alan Partridge". London: The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article2848081.ece. Retrieved 2009-11-16.
^ Armando Iannucci talks Alan Partridge the Movie. 23, March 2010
^ Armando Iannucci confirms that the film is in the works.
^ "Mr. Beaks Talks ARTHUR CHRISTMAS, Alan Partridge And More With Screenwriter Peter Baynham!". Aint-It-Cool-News. 2011. http://www.aintitcool.com/node/52081. Retrieved 2011-11-27.
^ "The Complete Alan Partridge / Storyline for Partridge film nearly complete". Completelyalanpartridge.net. 2012-01-20. http://completelyalanpartridge.net/index.php/2012/01/20/storyline-for-partridge-film-nearly-complete/. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
^ "Armando Iannucci On Alan Partridge Movie". Empire. 2012. http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=33802. Retrieved 2012-05-01.
^ "Coogan ponders Partridge return". BBC News. 2008-11-10. http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/entertainment/newsid_7714000/7714011.stm. Retrieved 2010-03-30.

External links [link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Alan Partridge

http://wn.com/Alan_Partridge

http://de.wn.com/Alan Partridge

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Partridge

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

Armando Iannucci
Born	(1963-11-28) 28 November 1963 (age 48) Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom
Medium	TV, Radio, Film, Print
Nationality	British
Years active	1990-present
Spouse	Rachel Jones (since 1990)

Armando Giovanni Iannucci ( /ɑrˈmændoʊ jəˈnuːtʃi/; born 28 November 1963) is a Scottish^[1] comedian, satirist, writer, director, performer and radio producer. Born in Glasgow, he studied at Oxford University and left graduate work on a PhD about John Milton to pursue a career in comedy.

Rising quickly through BBC Scotland and BBC Radio 4, his early work with Chris Morris on the radio series On the Hour was transferred to television as The Day Today. A character from this series, Alan Partridge, went on to feature in a number of Iannucci's television and radio programmes including Knowing Me, Knowing You and I'm Alan Partridge. In the meantime, Iannucci also fronted the satirical Armistice review shows and in 2001 created his most personal work, The Armando Iannucci Shows for Channel 4.^[2]

Moving back to the BBC in 2005, Iannucci created the political sitcom The Thick of It as well as the spoof documentary Time Trumpet in 2006.^[2] Winning funding from the UK Film Council, he directed a critically acclaimed feature film In the Loop featuring characters from The Thick of It in 2009. As a result of these works, he has been described by The Daily Telegraph as "the hardman of political satire".^[3] Other works during this period include a operetta libretto, Skin Deep and his radio series Charm Offensive.

Iannucci's latest television project is the HBO political satire Veep. In March 2012 it was announced that he is working on his first novel, Tongue International, described as 'a satirical fantasy about a privatised language'.^[4]

1 Early life
2 Career
3 Recognition
4 Personal life and politics
5 Filmography
6 Bibliography
- 6.1 Print
- 6.2 Audiobooks
7 References
8 External links

Early life [link]

Iannucci's father, also called Armando, is from Naples, Italy, and his mother is from Glasgow, Scotland, where Iannucci was born. His father, who came to Scotland in 1950, ran a pizza factory. Armando has two brothers and a sister. Iannucci was educated at St Peter's Primary School, St. Aloysius' College, Glasgow, the University of Glasgow^[5] and University College, Oxford, where he read English literature gaining an MA in 1986. In his teens he thought seriously about becoming a Roman Catholic priest. He abandoned graduate work on 17th-century religious language with particular reference to Milton's Paradise Lost, to pursue his career in comedy.

Career [link]

1990s [link]

After making several programmes at BBC Scotland in the early 1990s such as No' The Archie McPherson Show, he moved to BBC Radio in London, making radio shows including Armando Iannucci for BBC Radio 1, which featured a number of comedians he was to collaborate with for many years, including David Schneider, Peter Baynham, Steve Coogan and Rebecca Front.

Iannucci first received widespread fame as the producer for On the Hour on Radio 4, which soon transferred to television as The Day Today. He received critical acclaim for both his own talents as a writer and a producer, and for first bringing together such comics as Chris Morris, Richard Herring, Stewart Lee, Peter Baynham and Steve Coogan. The members of this group went on to work on separate projects and create a new comedy "wave" pre-New Labour: Morris went on to create Brass Eye, Blue Jam and the Chris Morris Music Show; Stewart Lee and Richard Herring created Fist of Fun and This Morning with Richard Not Judy.

Baynham was closely involved with both Morris's and Lee & Herring's work — simultaneously at one point. Lee would go on to co-write the controversial Jerry Springer — The Opera, but perhaps the most famous "alumnus" of this group is Steve Coogan's character Alan Partridge, who first appeared in On the Hour, and has featured in multiple spin-off series. Between 1995 and 1999, Iannucci produced and hosted The Saturday Night Armistice.

2000s [link]

In 2000, he created two pilot episodes for Channel 4, which became The Armando Iannucci Shows. This was an eight-part series for Channel 4 broadcast in 2001, written with Andy Riley and Kevin Cecil. The series consisted of Iannucci pondering pseudo-philosophical and jocular ideas and fantasies inbetween surreal sketches. Iannucci has been quoted as saying it is the comedy series he is most proud of making. He told The Metro in April 2007 "The Armando Iannucci Show [sic] on Channel 4 came out around 9/11, so it was overlooked for good reasons. People had other things on their minds. But that was the closest to me expressing my comic outlook on life."^[6]

After championing Yes Minister on the BBC's Britain's Best Sitcom, Iannucci devised, directed and was chief writer of The Thick of It, a political satire-cum-farce for BBC Four. It starred Chris Langham as an incompetent cabinet minister being manipulated by a cynical Press Officer, played by Peter Capaldi and based on Tony Blair's former Press Secretary Alastair Campbell. The series was broadcast in two-parts in 2005 before an expanded cast starred in two specials and a "third" series.

Based on a format he had used in Clinton: His Struggle with Dirt in 1996 and 2004: The Stupid Version, in mid-2006, his spoof documentary series Time Trumpet was shown on BBC 2. The series looked back on past events through highly edited clips and "celebrity" interviews, looking back on the present and near-future from the year 2031. One episode, featuring fictional terrorist attacks on London and the assassination of Tony Blair, was postponed and edited in August 2006 amid the terrorism scares in British airports at that time. Jane Thynne, writing in The Independent, accused the BBC of lacking backbone.^[7]

Other work [link]

Despite his involvement in many facets of British comedy as a producer, writer and performer, Iannucci has remained relatively unknown amongst the British public. His non-television projects include Smokehammer, a web-based project with Chris Morris, a book in 1997 entitled Facts and Fancies, compiling some articles from his newspaper columns, which was turned into a BBC Radio 4 series. A little-known radio series called Scraps With Iannucci followed late in 1998, in which Iannucci used his tape-fiddling skills to present a review of the year.

He has appeared on Radio 3 talking about classical music, one of his passions and collaborated with composer David Sawer on Skin Deep, an operetta, which was premiered by Opera North on 16 January 2009. He has also presented three programmes for BBC Radio 3, including Mobiles Off!, a 20-minute segment on classical concert-going etiquette.

He directed a series of Post Office television adverts, featuring the actors John Henshaw, Rory Jennings and Di Botcher alongside guest stars such as Joan Collins, Bill Oddie and Westlife.^[8]

Film directing [link]

In January 2009, his first feature film In the Loop, in the style of The Thick of It, was premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. It was the first cinema film to be directed by Iannucci, after his contribution to Tube Tales in 1999. The film has been applauded by critics, both in Britain and the US,^[9] and was nominated for the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar in 2009.^[10] The film secured the eighth highest placing in the UK box office in its opening week – despite its relatively insignificant screening numbers. According to the British Film Institute screenonline, Iannucci had previously failed to secure funding for a historical comedy film in 2003.^[2]

Iannucci used his BBC press pass to enter the US State Department headquarters whilst researching the film, saying how he just turned up and claimed to be "here for the 12.30". Iannucci spent an hour inside taking photographs which were used for the film's set designs.^[11]

Recognition [link]

Iannucci has won two Sony Radio Awards and three British Comedy Awards. In 2003, he was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy.^[12] He was also subject of a 2006 edition of The South Bank Show.

In January 2006 he took the post of News International Visiting Professor of Broadcast Media at the University of Oxford,^[13] where he has delivered a series of four lectures under the title "British Comedy — Dead Or Alive?".

In June 2011, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Glasgow to recognise his contribution to film and television.

At the 2011 British Comedy Awards, Iannucci received the Writers' Guild of Britain Award.^[14]

Personal life and politics [link]

In 1990, he married Rachael Jones, whom he met when she designed the lighting for his one-man show at Oxford. They have two sons and one daughter and currently live in Buckinghamshire.^[15]

He is patron of the Silver Star Society, a charity supporting women through difficult pregnancies. In April 2012 he abseiled from the top of the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford to raise money for the unit.^[16]

In the 2010 general election he supported the Liberal Democrats, stating: "I'll be voting Lib Dem this election because they represent the best chance in a lifetime to make lasting and fair change to how the UK is governed."^[17] Since the Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition of 2010 was established, however, he has expressed doubts over his continued support for the party, saying he is 'wavering' on many issues and has admitted to 'queasiness' over the Coalition's economic measures. He has expressed an interest in targeting the Liberal Democrats in the next series of The Thick Of It, just as the first three targeted what he perceived as the failings within the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.^[18]

Iannucci describes Woody Allen as his "all-time comedy hero".^[19]

Filmography [link]

Television [link]

The Day Today (BBC 2 — creator, co-writer, producer plus occasional appearances. The Day Today was the TV adaptation of On The Hour)
The Saturday Night Armistice (writer, producer, presenter etc. - later The Friday Night Armistice)
Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge (co-writer, producer, co-creator)
I'm Alan Partridge (co-writer, producer, director)
The Armando Iannucci Shows (writer, performer, director)
Clinton: His Struggle with Dirt (writer, director)
Gash (writer, presenter)
Have I Got News For You, four times as a panelist on 23 April 2004, 4 May 2007, 20 May 2010 and 27 May 2011.
The Thick of It (writer, director)
2004: The Stupid Version (Presenter, co-writer, director)
Time Trumpet (writer, presenter, director)
Comics Britannia (narrator)
Paradise Lost (presenter and writer)
Lab Rats (executive producer)
Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle (executive producer, plus appears in "Comedy Extra" segments on red button)
Channel 4's 2010 Alternative Election (guest)
Veep (writer, director, producer)^[20]
Armando Iannucci on Dickens (writer, presenter)^[21]^[22]

Radio [link]

On the Hour (BBC Radio 4 — creator, co-writer, producer)
No' The Archie McPherson Show (BBC Radio Scotland — presenter, writer, producer)
Armando Iannucci (BBC Radio 1 — writer, presenter, producer)
The News Quiz (BBC Radio 4 — producer, also appeared as guest)
Quote... Unquote (BBC Radio 4 — producer)
Loose Talk (producer)
The Mary Whitehouse Experience (producer)
The 99p Challenge on BBC Radio 4.
Armando Iannucci's Charm Offensive on BBC Radio 4
Lionel Nimrod's Inexplicable World as various characters.
Desert Island Discs - BBC Radio 4 as a guest. Armando reveals how as a youngster he rebelled against his parents' "Classical Music listening ways" by playing Wagner.
Scraps With Iannucci a BBC Radio 4 series from 1998.
Week Ending (BBC Radio 4 — producer)
The Unbelievable Truth (BBC Radio 4- guest)

Film [link]

Tube Tales - "Mouth" (1999)
In the Loop (2009)

Bibliography [link]

Print [link]

Alan Partridge: Every Ruddy Word by Steve Coogan, Peter Baynham, Armando Iannucci, Patrick Marber (Michael Joseph, 2003) ISBN 0-7181-4678-6
Facts and Fancies (Michael Joseph, 1997) ISBN 0-7181-3951-8
Weekly newspaper column in The Observer
The Audacity of Hype: Bewilderment, Sleaze and Other Tales of the 21st Century (Little Brown, 2009) ISBN 978-1-4087-0197-3

Audiobooks [link]

Facts and Fancies (BBC Audiobooks, 1998) ISBN 0-563-55756-7
I'm Alan Partridge: Knowing Me, Knowing Yule (BBC Audiobooks, 1998) ISBN 0-563-55763-X
Knowing Me, Knowing You...: With Alan Partridge: Complete Series (BBC Audiobooks, 1995) CD ISBN 0-563-38896-X, cassette ISBN 0-563-38891-9

References [link]

^ The Independent (London). http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/tucker-v-mcbride-when-satire-met-reality-1668742.html?action=Gallery&ino=2.
^ ^a ^b ^c Armando Iannucci biography and credits at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
^ Armando Iannucci interview, 23 October 2009
^ "Armando Iannucci writes his first novel". Chortle. 31 March 2012. http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2012/03/30/15144/armando_iannucci_writes_his_first_novel. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/iannucci/
^ 60 SEONDS: Armando Iannucci [sic] at Metro.co.uk, Sunday, April 1, 2007
^ MEDIA DIARY - The war on humour
^ Sweney, Mark (12 October 2007). "Joan Collins in Post Office ad". The Guardian (London). http://media.guardian.co.uk/advertising/story/0,,2189979,00.html. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
^ Wise, Damon (21 January 2009). "In the Loop at the Sundance Film Festival Utah". The Times (London). http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/film_reviews/article5554802.ece. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
^ "Nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards". The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/82/nominees.html. Retrieved 2 February 2010.
^ "Comedian sneaks into US State department". telegraph.co.uk (London). 8 May 2009. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/5295148/Comedian-sneaks-into-US-State-department.html. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
^ "The A-Z of laughter (part two)". The Guardian (London). 7 December 2003. http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,11710,1101525,00.html. Retrieved 25 April 2010.
^ University of Oxford, 2005. "Armando Iannucci to lecture at Oxford on British comedy"
^ "British Comedy Awards 2011: Inbetweeners and Victoria Wood among winners". The Daily Telegraph (London). 17 December 2011. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8962988/British-Comedy-Awards-2011-Inbetweeners-and-Victoria-Wood-among-winners.html.
^ Alexia Skinitis, "Armando Iannucci - Significant Others, The Times, 11 April 2009
^ Jones, Laura (23 April 2012). "Comedian takes plunge to aid baby unit". The Oxford Mail. http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/9663618.Comedian_takes_plunge_to_aid_baby_unit/. Retrieved 23 April 2012.
^ A who’s who of celebrity political endorsements, The Independent, retrieved 3 May 2010
^ [1]. The Guardian, retrieved 16 February 2011
^ Armando Iannucci BBC, Comedy, Interview 12th Dec 2004 bbc.co.uk
^ [2]"The Hollywood Reporter" 16 April 2011
^ tvthrong.co.uk
^ News Quiz Extra, 27 May 2011

External links [link]

Armando Iannucci on Twitter
Profile at the BBC
Column archive at The Guardian
Armando Iannucci on Charlie Rose
Armando Iannucci at the Internet Movie Database
Armando Iannucci biography and credits at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
Armando Iannucci collected news and commentary at The Guardian
Works by or about Armando Iannucci in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
Armando Iannucci at the Notable Names Database
Armando Iannucci Interview, New Statesman, March 2010
Armando Iannucci interview, LeftLion Magazine

Persondata
Name	Iannucci, Armando
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	28 November 1963
Place of birth	Glasgow, Scotland
Date of death
Place of death

This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armando_Iannucci

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

Playlist

Film Summary

Make changes yourself !

Contents

[edit] The Day Today

[edit] Knowing Me, Knowing You

[edit] I'm Alan Partridge

[edit] Anglian Lives

[edit] Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge and Other Less Successful Characters: Live

[edit] I, Partridge: We Need to Talk About Alan

Related pages:

Contents

Related pages: