For three decades, he has played one of the UK’s greatest ever comedy characters. But how different is he to Alan Partridge really? Ahead of the presenter’s new show about mental health, Coogan is put in the psychologist’s chair
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he line between Steve Coogan and Alan Partridge is a blurry one. The love of cars. The clothes. They’ve both done their own live arena tours. They even share a face. But if you ever needed proof that they’re not actually the same, it’s the fact that when I meet him for breakfast at his London hotel, he’s not at the buffet with an oversized plate, the staff aren’t giggling at him, and we’re not in a Travel Tavern.
We’re here to talk about his new show, How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge). It’s the latest instalment in the wider Partridge universe in which he presents digital radio, writes books, successfully podcasts, goes on tour, and made his BBC comeback on magazine programme This Time. (The character is now co-written with the Gibbons brothers, rather than Armando Iannucci and Peter Baynham.)
This time round we meet an altogether happier, wiser Partridge 3.0. He’s no longer in the public eye, but “finds a steady stream of Norfolk-based corporate work just as fulfilling. On the face of it, my life is great,” we learn. “I’ve got a large house,” – he lives in the oasthouse from his podcast – “my partner Katrina [played brilliantly by Katherine Kelly] is one of the fittest women over 40 in Norfolk.”
