Alan Partridge will be the BBC’s ‘voice of Brexit’ when he returns to the broadcaster for a new series next year, says Steve Coogan.


Coogan explains that Partridge would have backed the campaign to leave the EU, and therefore will enjoy a revival in his BBC career.

The spoof presenter will be returning to the broadcaster in spring 2018, after a 15-year hiatus which saw Coogan take him to Sky Atlantic and the silver screen.

Explaining how it would be believable that the BBC would take Partridge back, Coogan told The New European: “It’s conceivable, because in this age of Brexit, they [the BBC] might think they need to get in touch with the ‘Little Englanders’ they ignore.

“Alan would have voted Brexit for sure. Hard Brexit, given the choice. He’s a Brexiteer because the Daily Mail told him to be.”

Coogan added that while Partridge is “inept” he is also “honest and well-intentioned”: “He tries not to be sexist, then is sexist. He’s the kind of person, a bit like my dad, who tries to impress but it comes out wrong.”

A lot of pressure comes with reviving such a popular character, and Coogan said that he will write the new series “at the end of this year, to go out on BBC2 next spring. That’s going to be tough. It’s always difficult to make good comedy.

“You always have to work really hard at it. The standard of the comedy on Partridge is so high, that you have to match it, or people go, ‘Oh, they’ve lost it.’


“So, you are making a rod for your own back. But that’s good, because you have to do good stuff, and people like it, and they go, ‘Oh! That’s brilliant.’”