This Time with Alan Partridge marked the return of Steve Coogan's hapless comic character to BBC One, with the series taking pot shots at certain daytime magazine shows.

It may have received a mixed reception from viewers, but there's definitely scope for the show to continue and improve with a second series. Nothing has been announced about that yet though, so Digital Spy decided to ask writers Rob and Neil Gibbons what's going on there.

Speaking to us exclusively, the duo said: "We're putting it in a drawer for now.

"It was never intended to definitely be a one series thing with a huge catastrophe at the end, that'd be too similar to what's gone before with Alan. So the door's not shut."

The writers did also add that there is "plenty of mileage" in the character of Jennie Gresham (Susannah Fielding) outside of the This Time format.

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"We didn’t want her to be just the butter-wouldn't-melt voice of reason, the one the audience align with. It'd get boring," they added.

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"So in the first episode we had her 'accidentally' steal a joke from Alan and use it herself on air. The uncertainty that created in Alan – was that really an accident or is she f**king with me? – immediately put some more interesting flesh on the bone and from there we wanted to keep her motives unclear.

"From laughing at him slightly too much on air one minute, to flirting with him off air the next. It meant the audience's sympathies shift between her and Alan."

Meanwhile, Rob and Neil also responded to Piers Morgan's rant about the show, (jokingly) saying: "Hope he liked it. Alan has always been modelled exclusively on him so of course we want him to be happy with it."

Although This Time may not be getting a second series for the time being, Alan is going to be getting another BBC show that will begin filming in the near future.

This Time with Alan Partridge is available now on DVD.

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