I'm starting to think that Steve Coogan will still be doing Alan Partridge when he's on his deathbed. It's a character that he keeps returning to and keeps finding different angles on him as he – Partridge and Coogan – gets older. We've seen his ups, we've seen his downs, and now we see him trying to keep relevant by exploring mental health.
If truth be told the first episode is a little bitty. There are some classic moments in it – such as Partrirdge meeting and being annoyed by a woman during a Norwich walkabout who is convinced he asked her out – but it feels as if it never gets going. Humorous scenes feel like they are too self-contained and also a little too self-conscious. They make you laugh but they don't really fit into the broader sweep of looking at mental health in a comic way
For me the opener only really comes alive when Alan reconnects – or at least attempts to reconnect – with Sidekick Simon, played as ever by the always brilliant Tim Key. They indulge in a spot of "I feel" role play but beneath the so-called banter there is an obvious tension between the characters about their past work together and rivalry which very nearly boils over.
Elsewhere we don't see quite enough of Alan's latest love, played by Katherine Kelly (or understand why she is with him), but hopefully there will be more of her later in the series. There's some great footage showing far too much fruit, like our mental health-ravaged minds, "implode" – the use of language in the script written by Coogan and the Gibbons brothers, has an echo of Chris Morris and Brass Eye, which I've never noticed before with Partridge. And, as ever, Alan is always putting his foot in it, at one point buying 'IRA' balaclavas for a fancy dress party.
Coogan is, needless to say, on top form, treading a thin between awkwardness and arrogance. We feel for Alan when he revisits his old channel North Norfolk Digital where nobody remembers him and his old studio is now a toilet. But he is also hard to like completely, full of prejudices that he can't quite suppress even though he now knows that he shouldn't have them.
It's definitely great to have Alan back. I'm hoping this series gets better though – even if Alan's mental health doesn't.
How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge), Fridays, BBC One, 9.30pm and on iPlayer.
Picture: BBC/Baby Cow
