Knowing Me, Knowing You...: No. 3: With Alan Partridge (Canned Laughter) Cassette

Arrogant, crass, insecure and intensely irritating--Alan Partridge should never have been allowed on air, never mind been offered his own chat show. In the two episodes of Knowing Me, Knowing You featured on this cassette, Partridge manages to alienate all his guests and inflict physical violence upon one. When the hard-drinking Lord Morgan of Glossop dies on his show, he cannot help but talk through the minute's silence that he asks the audience to observe.Alan Partridge is a brilliant comic creation. He remains worryingly believable as his show falls apart around his ears, a figure of fun but also oddly sympathetic. As the host is ridiculed by precocious child prodigy Simon Fisher, we are amused by his ignorance--yet when Alan obtains his revenge, it is hard not to be pleased. As the presenter's guests turn on him, they often prove themselves to be just as ridiculous as their target: it seems that a chat show host is given the guests he deserves.Originally a hit for Radio 4, Knowing Me, Knowing You made the move to television after only one series, and achieved even greater success on screen. Yet in many ways the radio version is the better of the two, with the script just a little sharper and the humour slightly more consistent--only in Chris Morris's remarkable news spoof The Day Today did Steve Coogan's character find better material. --John OatesRead More