Mark Monahan plucks the six best eggs from Partridge’s nest

1. The Irish famine

Alan Partridge was originally the creation of comedian Steve Coogan and writer/producer Armando Iannucci. His first telly series, the faux chat show Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge was excellent; the second, I’m Alan Partridge, inspired.

This saw the character in tragic limbo: he has failed to return to TV, he’s lost his wife to “a narcissistic sports pimp”, and he’s hosting the graveyard slot at Radio Norwich.

Ensconced in the dismal Linton Travel Tavern, desperate for screen time, he arranges a lunch with two Irish TV producers. “So,” he asks the charming Dubliners, “how many people were killed in the Irish famine?”