Alan Partridge writers reveal what's new with the hapless broadcaster: 'We're just constantly trying not to repeat ourselves'
Partridge takes a characteristically awkward dive into mental health in his new series, How Are You?.
Sibling duo Neil and Rob Gibbons have, with Steve Coogan, co-written every Alan Partridge project since Mid Morning Matters in 2010. Together they've expanded the Partridge universe into a successful series of TV vehicles, books, podcasts, live shows and even a film.
Their latest collaboration, How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge), is a six-part BBC series, directed by the Gibbons, in which the veteran broadcaster tackles the sensitive subject of mental health in his own inimitable fashion. It's their first Partridge project for the BBC since the One Show spoof This Time with Alan Partridge, which the Gibbons also directed.
"After his slight meltdown at the end of This Time, when he storms out the studio and tries to issue a rallying call, in our minds that was the final straw at the BBC," Neil tells RadioTimes.com. "He lost his job, but he's determined for that not to be the end of his TV career."
Within the fictional Partridge world, How Are You? is a self-produced vanity project he's hoping to shop around to various broadcasters, including the BBC.
"He's relying on his own savings and some local sponsorship from friends of his," Neil explains, "and just working on a very low budget to try and make a calling card that he can hopefully dangle in front of people."
For something he's made himself, the production values are quite high. In some ways he's improved as a programme-maker.
"Because it's Alan who's in charge there were obviously jokes available to us that would've been him editing things clunkily or badly," says Rob, "but we did some of those jokes in previous Alan documentaries like Welcome to the Places of My Life and Scissored Isle.
"So we're just constantly trying not to repeat ourselves, which is obviously tricky when a character's been around for a thousand years."
So, why has Alan chosen to examine mental health?
"It feels current and relevant and part of the zeitgeist," says Neil, "and that's always something he's desperately clutching for, but I think it also slightly insulates him from people criticising his motives. That's why he tries to claim it's something he suffers with himself, because it feels like something you can't really criticise.
"So Alan has sort of landed on it not because he has a burning desire to explore it as a subject, but because he feels that people can't really turn around to him and say, 'You're just trying to get back on TV' without opening themselves up to attack. Bizarrely, even though it's a contentious and tricky subject to navigate, I think he feels he's on safe ground."
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"He thinks he can monetise it," adds Rob. "But also he sort of had a choice to make, because broadcasters of his vintage in the current world kind of have two directions they can go in.
"Some of his peers would've swerved further to the right and tried to get slots on GB News or talk radio stations, but the other option, which is potentially riskier - but also potentially more lucrative for Alan - is to join the Gen Z generation and do that thing of trying to think of everything as content, and if that means displaying your vulnerability and personal problems as content, then do that."
How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge) premieres on BBC One and iPlayer on Friday 3rd October 2025.
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