Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge

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After eight years of silence, Steve Coogan has resurrected his most enduring comic creation, the haplessly inept broadcaster Alan Partridge. But a-ha, as Partridge would inevitably say at this point, there’s a twist.

He isn’t returning in a TV series, but online in a dozen stand-alone 11-minute films, commissioned and sponsored by the lager brand Foster’s. The first became available to view at the weekend, with the others being unveiled on Foster’s website about once weekly.

The new films have been scripted by Coogan and his long-time collaborator Armando Iannucci, together with brothers Rob and Neil Gibbons. This represents a considerable coup for Foster’s, which is making significant inroads into the comedy market. This year, it funded the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, sponsored for more than two decades by Perrier.