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I'm Alan Partridge

TV SERIES · 1997–2002 · UK

I'm Alan Partridge

Created by
Armando Iannucci, Peter Baynham, Steve Coogan
Network
BBC Two
Seasons
2
Episodes
12
Studio
Talkback

36 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026

The fortunes of a former chat show host who is reduced to a lowly slot on Radio Norwich. Alan Partridge is divorced, living in a travel tavern, and desperate for a return to television.

  • I'm Alan Partridge — production image

36 Interesting Facts About I'm Alan Partridge

Interesting Facts (15)

  1. #001

    Although it was not as bad as Alan initially feared, some parts of Norwich city centre were closed to traffic.

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  2. #002

    One of the original ideas for the second series was to place Alan in an old manor house converted into small flats. He would be the only person living there, apart from an airline pilot who lived in the other wing and occasionally passed by Alan.

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  3. #003

    Simon Greenall (Michael) attended drama school with Steve Coogan and gave him his first holiday.

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  4. #004

    Steve Coogan was only 31 when he filmed the first series and wore ageing make-up to play Alan Partridge, who was meant to be in his forties. He did the same five years later in the second series. In Alan Partridge (1994), The Day Today (1994) and Knowing Me, Knowing You, Alan's age was not specified and Coogan only changed his hairstyle to a side parting. From Mid Morning Matters to Alan Partridge (2010), Coogan decided that his real age was close enough to Alan's and stopped using ageing make-up. He also said that he made the film Alan Partridge (2013) and thought he would look cartoonish when seen on the big cinema screen.

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  5. #005

    Alan's son Fernando is named after the ABBA song of the same name.

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  6. #006

    Linton in Cambridgeshire was once famous for the fictional character Alan Partridge, who justified his long stay at the Linton Travel Tavern by claiming that Linton is equidistant between London and Norwich. In fact, Linton is near the halfway point of the London-Norwich A11 trunk road, but it is about four miles from the actual road, which suggests that the travel tavern was not in Linton but near the A11. Even at that location, the travel tavern is probably farther from the M11 motorway than Partridge might have wanted, since he once walked to a petrol station to buy a few bottles of windscreen washer fluid. The location used for the BBC series was the Hilton Hotel on the A41 near Bushey.

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  7. #007

    Although Alan Partridge was born, raised and still lives in Norfolk, he does not actually have a Norfolk accent. Steve Coogan changes his voice when playing Alan, but his accent is still somewhat Mancunian.

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  8. #008

    In series 2, Alan owns a Lexus IS300. Steve Coogan said they chose the car because they thought "Lexus" was a fun word to say out loud.

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  9. #009

    In his book 'I, Partridge', Alan writes that the Linton travel tavern cost £49 a day including breakfast. Since he spent 183 days there, his stay would have cost him £8,967.00.

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  10. #010

    Alan is in love with "Sue Cook", the former Crimewatch presenter. He tries to get her to appear in his out-of-television series and once passed to her. (Hence the "Cook Pass" joke.)

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  11. #011

    The character Peter Linehan, head of BBC News and Current Affairs, takes his name from Graham Linehan, who appears as an RTÉ executive in one of the episodes.

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  12. #012

    In the second series, Michael states that the age gap between him and someone aged 60 is the same as the age gap between Alan and Sonja. Alan proudly tells others that Sonja is 33 and 14 years younger than Alan. It can therefore be concluded that in the second series Michael is 46, almost the same age as Alan.

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  13. #013

    As of 2022, Queen Elizabeth II and Bill Withers are unfortunately no longer with us.

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  14. #014

    Although Radio Norwich does not exist, there are real-life Norwich-based stations Radio Norfolk and Norwich 99.9.

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  15. #015

    Alan Partridge and Steve Coogan share an obsessive interest in cars. Alan not only reads Top Gear magazine, but Steve Coogan has also appeared on Top Gear to discuss cars on that and other programmes.

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Production Story (18)

  1. #016

    Some parts of Norwich city centre were pedestrianised, though not as extensively as Alan initially feared.

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  2. #017

    Linton, Cambridgeshire, became famous thanks to the fictional character Alan Partridge. Partridge justified his long stay at the Linton Travel Tavern by claiming that Linton is equidistant between London and Norwich. Indeed, Linton is close to the halfway point of the London-Norwich A11 trunk road, but it is about four miles from the actual road, which suggests that the travel tavern was not in Linton but nearby on the A11. Even at that location, the travel tavern is probably farther from the M11 motorway than Partridge would have liked; he once walked there from a petrol station to buy a few bottles of windscreen washer fluid. The location used in the BBC television series, however, was the Hilton Hotel on the A41 near Bushey.

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  3. #018

    In season 2, Alan owns a Lexus IS300. Steve Coogan said the reason they chose this car was that they thought saying the word 'Lexus' out loud was funny.

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  4. #019

    Although there is no real Radio Norwich, there are real Norwich-based radio stations, Radio Norfolk and Norwich 99.9.

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  5. #020

    Simon Greenall (Michael) attended the same drama school as Steve Coogan and gave him his first big break.

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  6. #021

    Although Alan says in season 1, episode 3 that Lynn is 50 years old, the actress Felicity Montagu was only 37 at the time of filming.

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  7. #022

    Amelia Bullmore (Sonja) went to Kiev to research Ukrainian accents. Initially, Peter Serafinowicz (Tex) was expected to play Sonja's boss at the café, Tomek, but it was thought that the logistics of speaking Ukrainian, or pretending to speak it, would be too complicated.

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  8. #023

    Steve Coogan was only 31 when filming the first season and wore ageing makeup to play Alan Partridge, who is presumed to be in his 40s. He did the same five years later in the second season. In Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge (1994) and The Day Today (1994), Alan's age was not specified and Coogan only changed his appearance by parting his hair on the side. From Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge (2010) onwards, Coogan decided that his real age had caught up with Alan's and gave up the ageing makeup. He also said that while making the film Alan Partridge (2013), he thought it would look cartoonish on a large cinema screen.

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  9. #024

    Although Alan Partridge was born and raised in Norfolk and still lives there, he does not actually have a Norfolk accent. Although Steve Coogan changes his voice when playing Alan, his accent is still somewhat Mancunian.

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  10. #025

    Lynn's name is a nod to Steve Coogan's real-life production assistant, Lindsay.

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  11. #026

    The character Peter Linehan, head of News and Current Affairs at the BBC, takes his name from Graham Linehan, who appeared as an RTÉ executive in one episode.

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  12. #027

    Alan Partridge and Steve Coogan share an obsessive interest in cars. Not only does Alan read only Top Gear magazine, but Steve Coogan has actually appeared on Top Gear and discussed cars on that programme and others.

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  13. #028

    One of the original ideas for the second season was to set it in an old mansion converted into small flats. Alan would live on the other side and would be the only person living there apart from an airline pilot who would occasionally pass by.

    PRODUCTION STORY · SOURCED

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  14. #029

    In the book 'I, Partridge', Alan writes that the Linton travel tavern was £49 per night, breakfast included. Given that he stayed 183 days, his stay must have cost him £8,967.

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  15. #030

    Alan has a weakness for Sue Cook, the former presenter of Crimewatch. He tries to persuade her to appear on his out-of-vision programme and once made a pass at her. (The "Cook Pass" joke comes from this.)

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  16. #031

    In the second season, Michael says that the age difference between himself and someone aged 60 is the same as that between Alan and Sonja. Alan proudly states that Sonja is 33, meaning she is 14 years younger than him. From this it can be inferred that Michael is 46 in the second season, meaning he is almost the same age as Alan.

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  17. #032

    As of 2022, unfortunately, Queen Elizabeth II and Bill Withers are no longer with us.

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  18. #033

    In the first season, Alan Partridge says he is 43 years old, that his son Fernando is 22, and that Fernando was born on Alan's birthday because he and his wife "didn't take precautions". So Fernando was born on Alan's 21st birthday.

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Behind the Scenes (1)

  1. #034

    Although Alan states in S1 E3 that Lynn is 50 years old, the actress Felicity Montagu was only 37 at the time of filming.

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Easter Eggs & References (1)

  1. #035

    Lynn's name is a nod to Steve Coogan's real-life production assistant Lindsay.

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Deeper Meaning (1)

  1. #036

    Amelia Bullmore (Sonja) went to Kiev to research Ukrainian accents. It was initially hoped that Peter Serafinowicz (Tex) would play Tomek, Sonja's boss at the cafe, but the logistics of speaking or pretending to speak Ukrainian were considered too complicated.

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Sources & editorial notes

Reference databases

  • Wikipedia English Wikipedia article
  • IMDb IMDb title page (trivia)

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