How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge): Review

Steve Coogan's greatest character makes a welcome return in a six-part series that mixes the best of Alan and the various formats he's inhabited over the years.

Meshing the much-acclaimed This Scissored Isle with the comedy interludes of I'm Alan Partridge works wonders for the format - even if some will decry the fact their favourite characters are nowhere to be seen.

Having been let go from the BBC after his reign on asinine TV chat show This Time (a wonderful scene critiques how bland these shows can be before ending in profanity that any level-headed person would feel and stripped of his presence on North Norfolk Digital Radio, Alan's self-funding a documentary series on the state of the UK's mental health.

Because after 12 months working in Saudi Arabia shilling for whatever he can, he's best placed to comment on the "silent crisis" that's afflicting the country.

What that means is Coogan and his team of writers have a chance to delve into hot-button topics and the kind of inane grandiose documentaries that take on the crisis without ever really providing anything other than general statements.

But what it means for viewers and lovers of Partridge's cringe way with others is a return to a kind of form that's been sorely missed. There's a kind of comforting hue to his return to the comedy format and while many of the numerous laugh-out-loud moments come from either asides or moments when he interacts with others in an exasperatedly confident way (a row with someone in a pub who won't pay 10 pence for his crisps after he's just accidentally tipped her 10 pounds shows how brittle - and brilliant - he is still) or from the sadness that pervades his life that he's clearly immune and ignorant to. 

From a chance to relive his childhood that harks back to the trauma of him being hypnotised on his radio show some 30-plus years ago to how little regard he's held in by former employers, Coogan plays Partridge with such pathos that it's infectious and may even stop to make you think.

It's not entirely clear what Partridge wants to achieve with this doco series in terms of results; but for viewers, the journey is endlessly entertaining (even if Katherine Kelly's character feels somewhat wasted) and it's great to see Felicity Montagu and Steve Coogan picking up like they've never left.