Norwich found itself at the centre of media attention earlier this summer when local DJ Pat Farrell took employees of radio station Shape (formerly North Norfolk Digital) hostage for a tense siege that drew in former BBC chatshow host Alan Partridge.

As his exploits come to DVD and Blu-ray in Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, Digital Spy asked the man himself about his hectic danger day, his current taste in music and how - as the writer of autobiography I, Partridge - he feels about the literary success of a certain EL James...

Did the events of Alpha Papa change your perspective on life?

"Not particularly. My colleague Pat Farrell held up a radio station, but I already knew that within every Irishman lies the potential to go loco with a firearm. That's just how they are.



"I was also pretty cool with the risk of death. I've had a good career, fathered two children (one of whom makes me genuinely proud), seen the world (12 countries in all - UK counts as four), and only once missed a deadline for filing my tax return (long story!).

"I would miss Deal Or No Deal though. Quite simply, Edmonds is a master. The way he refuses to take any s**t from the banker would - to my mind - have made him the perfect person to lead the government's efforts to reform the UK banking sector. A missed opportunity."

What are the essential things required to survive a siege?

"First and foremost, what the French refer to as 'cojones'. Until you're actually in a life or death situation it's impossible to know how you'll react. For whatever reason I happen to be incredibly brave and strong, but everyone's different. One of the guys in there with us is a bit of a hard man in everyday life, yet faced with a gunman he'd compromised his pants within the hour.



"You also need a keen sense of humour. Again, fine for me but we happened to be locked up with Dave Clifton and I think he found it tough.

"Also worth thinking about is a secret stash of food. I spotted early on that there wasn't enough for everyone so made it my business to squirrel about 60% away in a cupboard. After the siege the others found out about this and claimed they wouldn't have done the same. My arse."

If the events in Alpha Papa were to be turned into a Hollywood movie, which movie star would you like to see portray you?

"I'd actually like to see it animated. I'm no movie director (I'm Alan Partridge) but it'd clearly make a good Manga film. There were no actual Japanese people in the siege but if it would boost sales I'd have absolutely no issue with being rendered Far Eastern. I'd even be happy to help out with some of the drawing. Not blowing my own trumpet but at school I once drew a shoe in art class and it looked very, very shoe-like indeed.



"You might be surprised that I suggest Manga but I've always been the type to think outside the box. For example, I was the first DJ in Norfolk to attempt traffic updates every five minutes (a worthwhile experiment), while on the domestic front I regularly use the steam from my shower to wilt spinach."

As a best-selling author, what are your thoughts on the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon? Silly smut or credible literature?

"I'm not going to tell women what books to buy (that's Judy Finnegan's job) or how they can boost their libido (not Judy's job but she has some interesting views). But if a woman wants to settle down with a book and manipulate herself to completion at the idea of a millionaire bossy boots, that's entirely up to her. All I'd ask is that she wash her hands before handling food."



What is the most played album on your iPod?

"Like most of the DJs I know, I'm not really into music. I tend to listen to audiobooks, most recently An Evil Cradling by Brian Keenan read by Brian Keenan. Having been a hostage myself I like to think I can understand a little of what he went through, also I accidentally pressed 'purchase' on iTunes when I actually wanted to buy An Introduction to Reflexology (gift for quite nice new-age woman I'm wooing).



"I also like to listen to poetry anthologies. I'm not fussy about the poet, though obviously it has to rhyme. If they can't be bothered to do that, why do they think people would be bothered to listen to it?

"Other times I'll listen to an audio file I downloaded from the internet of different car engines. I listen to each one then guess what car it's from. I've lost the track listing though so it's quite hard to know if I'm right. A couple of my friends from the pub have suggested that listening to car engines is the kind of thing you'd only do if you were a middle-aged man who lacked human contact but that's actually wrong."

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa is released on DVD and Blu-ray on December 2.

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