Bravo Two Zero by Andy McNab - superb... (Im Alan Partridge !)

Member Name: ronniec

Product:	Im Alan Partridge !
Date:	17/11/00 (198 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Hilarious, intelligent, cringe-worthy, inspired acting, all based on people we all know.

Disadvantages: Some slightly weaker periods.

Hmm, perhaps a bad choice of title. I'm Alan Partridge is by definition the exact opposite of a subject people who enjoyed that book will find amusing. ;)

For those unfamiliar with Alan Partridge, I'll give you a short introduction. Played by Steve Coogan, who you may know from his other characters including Paul and Pauline Calf and Tony Ferrino, Alan is a failed TV and radio presenter, who at the time of this series is living in a travel tavern "equidistant between London and Norwich - that's the beauty of it".

Dumped by his wife for a fitness instructor, Alan makes do with his Radio Norwich talk show on the graveyard shift. His faithful assistant Lynn accompanies him wherever he goes, and is often the subject of his unbelievably thick-skinned comments.

The premise may sound a little unoriginal, but the show is set alight by the inspired acting and comic talent of the entire cast. Although Coogan deserves much of the credit as the lead character, there is not a single weak link in the regular cast and at times you wonder why most of them have not achieved wider fame (although some have moved on to their own programmes since this series, and you may recognise them).

The series begins with A Room With An Alan, an introductory episode which ambles it's way through the transition from the series' predecessor, Knowing Me Knowing You. Alan has been whitewashed by the BBC after punching Tony Hayers in the face with a turkey on his Christmas special. He now has a meeting with the very same man at which he attempts to convince him of the merits of his new ideas, including "Youth Hosteling with Chris Eubank". There are some excellent moments in this episode, including one of the best of the series: the graffiti daubed across his car by vandals ("sub-human scum"), which is unrepeatable here on dooyoo, but goes something like c**k, p**s, Partridge.

"It's 4.29am, and you'
;re listening to Up With A Partridge." Episode 2 is set on Valentine's Day, and sees Alan seduce one of his employees at Peartree Productions, whom he later fires. This is a weaker episode - probably the worst of the series - but does include Alan at breakfast, to which he takes his own 12" plate to the All You Can Eat breakfasts, and thinks he's got a great scam going. :p

Watership Alan, episode three, is cited as a favourite by many fans but I've always found it to be among the weakest. Alan has found work promoting a barge holiday company, yet his insensitive (to say the least) comments about the BSE crisis have angered 90% of East Anglia's farmers. He suggests at one point that they've probably been eating "infected spinal columns in a bap". Later in the episode, a cow is pushed from a bridge down onto the barge Alan is on while filming, a good moment by this episode's standards.

Episode four is quietly understated, but is probably the second-best out of the six. Refurbishment at the travel tavern means Alan is the only resident, and has to occupy himself - with hilarious results. He ends up walking along the motorway to a service station, buying twelve bottles of windscreen washer fluid, and asking the cashier if he fancies a pint later on ("No, neither do I. Thank you."). Later, when Alan hears the hotel staff and his assistant Lynn impersonating him, he charges into the room and swings his empty briefcase over their heads, before throwing a bag of crisps onto the floor for added effect - "Watch it!". To make amends, he later dresses as a zombie using a shower curtain and tungsten-tip screws and attempts to surprise Susan, the receptionist.

Episode 5, To Kill A Mocking Alan, is in my opinion the best episode in the series. At times it's hilarious, from Alan's dealings with the Irish TV executives, to his abject fear of his number one fan, Jed. If there's only
one episode to see, it's this one.

Alan's imitation and picture of Ireland is superb, as he describes Sunday Bloody Sunday as a song about the frustration of Sundays, and his mock Irish accent - "Dere’s more to Oireland dan dis.". Later, when he blags his way into saying he lives with Jed, he ends up at Jed's house with the executives and stumbles into Jed's shrine to him and David Copperfield. This moment alone made me cry the first time I saw it, but I had chest spasms later when Alan shouts out of his car window as he is rolling it up, "No way, you spastic, you're a mentalist!", then roars off down a dead-end and flees across a potato feild. Words cannot do it justice.

Episode six sees Alan finally glimpse a return to the success he so craves, as the head of BBC entertainment dies and an old pal of his is put in his place. Alan attends the funeral and we get one of the best examples of visual comedy I've ever seen - initially we see Alan at the funeral in a black jacket, but he later turns around and reveals the words "Castrol GTX" emblazoned across his back in blaring red letters. :p Towards the end, Alan is preparing to finally leave the hotel, and as way of "celebration" he holds a party in his room. This is where the infamous drawer incident occurs, as Alan catches the five-six people in his room sneeking a peek at the "something" in his drawer - we're never told, but personally I think it has to be porn.

There are many other great moments: the looks he gives to the irrationally cheery guy in the lift; when he and the Geordie handyman stealth across the travel lodge foyer pretending to be ex-SAS hitman and author of Bravo Two Zero (Alan's favourite book), Andy McNab; when Alan and the Geordie drive to the motorway to steal a traffic cone, and Alan gets caught and lies to the police after the Geordie deserts him by running off up the enbankment;
he sacks his employees but is really scared of them so locks them in the office with a packet of Pringles; Alan is about to have sex with a woman ("Can I just check - my understanding is no monies are to change hands tonight?"), and she covers him in chocalate mousse - he then has to answer the door, and says he just spilt it (all around his mouth); and some more. Aah, memories...

Repeats are fairly common on both the BBC and channels like UK Gold. If you find the show is to your liking, there is the option of the boxed video sets - three episodes per tape, two tapes. These cost around £15 each or £25 for the two.

I'm Alan Partidge is a sublime series, packed with genuinely brilliant comedy moments. The gags are intelligent, and Alan's character is perfect. I would recommend you watch at least one IAP episode, preferably number five. You'll either love it or hate it - personally, I love it. :)

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