King Of Cringe

- Judy Ewens

The last time spoof presenter Alan Partridge, played by Steve Coogan, hosted a ‘live’ TV series for the BBC, it led to disaster when, in an episode of his 1990s chat show Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge, he accidentally shot dead a restaurant critic on air.

The series was cancelled and Alan’s career rapidly went downhill as he ended up working in the backwaters of local radio as the host of a show on North Norfolk Digital.

But we’re glad to report that Alan has ‘bounced back’ one more time. This week, the Beeb has given the calamitous presenter a second chance with BBC1’s new six-part series This Time with Alan Partridge, in which he stands in as the temporary co-host of an early evening magazine show called This Time while one of the regular presenters is off sick.

Sitting rather uncomfortably next to Alan on the sofa is Jennie Gresham (Susannah Fielding), who tries her best to hide her feelings over her pompous co-host’s unorthodox presenting style.

Alan’s long-suffering assistant, Lynn (Felicity Montagu), is back, as is Simon Denton (Tim Key), better known as ‘Sidekick Simon’ from the