EXCLUSIVE: Steve Coogan is bringing his long-gestating Alan Partridge travelog to the BBC.
Deadline can reveal that the beloved comedy icon’s newest present, And Did These Ft.. With Alan Partridge, will see him journey across the nation assembly locals, with the character having are available in to some cash after a visit to Saudi Arabia, because the ever-developing Partridge strikes with the instances.
BBC comedy boss Jon Petrie revealed the information to Deadline alongside a string of recommissions together with for Diane Morgan’s Cunk with Netflix, Dreaming While Black with Showtime, Greg Davies comedy The Cleaner and Man Like Mobeen, together with a brand new present, Solely Little one, from the producer of Guilt.
Penned by long-time collaborators Neil and Rob Gibbons and produced by Coogan and Sarah Monteith’s Child Cow, And Did These Ft… begins as a homecoming documentary however morphs into one thing extra private because the character realizes that the happiness he thought he’d really feel at being again in Norwich simply hasn’t materialized. He’ll journey throughout the UK on a quest to seek out funk-free elements of the nation, taking in house life, work and pastimes throughout six episodes as he goals to turn into a psychological well being champion for the middle-aged.
A Partridge travelog has been gestating since 2019 when the BBC began creating an identical concept to And Did These Ft… with Coogan. That present was ultimately scotched by the Covid-19 pandemic however had practically been ruined by Coogan amassing factors on his driving licence. He ultimately argued in opposition to a prolonged driving ban partly as a result of the brand new travelog collection couldn’t be filmed on public transport, in keeping with studies from the time. An analogous present, Scissored Isle, aired on Sky a number of years in the past.
Petrie stated the travelog exhibits that Coogan is adept at shifting his character together with the instances even when he’s starring in completely totally different fare reminiscent of Jimmy Savile drama The Reckoning. Upcoming film credit for Coogan embrace Despicable Me 4, The Penguin Classes and the Joker sequel.
“The superb factor about Alan Partridge is that he grows outdated with Steve Coogan,” stated Petrie. “The extent of element is insane, this can be a character who has had two autobiographies, podcasts and audio books. All this new media comes alongside they usually do it with such consideration to element.”
In an identical vein to This Time, the spoof present affairs program through which Coogan starred alongside Susannah Fielding and common comedy accomplice Tim Key, Petrie stated the brand new present will “showcase the most effective new British character comedians,” though forged shouldn’t be but set. Cameras will roll over the summer season. This Time is rested in the intervening time.
Child Cow boss Monteith stated the present “guarantees to be precisely the type of uncompromising, state-of-the-nation piece that the nation wants, nearly as a lot as he does.” Coogan joked: “The dominion of Saudi Arabia directs some $69 billion to navy expenditure annually. And but regardless of all that, I in some way felt incomplete.”
Cunk, Cleaner, Dreaming & Mobeen
Cunk. Picture: BBC
With greater than two years as BBC Comedy Director underneath his belt, Petrie confidently unveiled an additional quartet of recommissions that he stated showcases the most effective of British comedy, together with Dreaming While Black and a fifth run of Man Like Mobeen, the latter of which is able to as soon as once more see Guz Khan return because the haphazard lead character.
One-off particular Cunk‘s Quest for Which means, which is created by Charlie Brooker and co-produced with Netflix, will see Diane Morgan’s Partridge-like comedy character Philomena Cunk sort out a few of the most complicated ideas to have ever been found, together with quantum physics, existentialism, nihilism and hedonism, as she meet specialists together with TV scientist Brian Cox. In her seek for solutions, she’ll additionally look at the lives and works of a few of historical past’s foremost thinkers and ground-breaking creatives, from Epicurus to Dostoyevsky, from Sartre to Van Gogh, to Nietzsche.
Petrie stated Motherland star Morgan is a comic “on the high of her sport, she has the Midas contact.” “Cunk has turn into a worldwide phenomenon, so it’s becoming that she is travelling additional than earlier than to ask a few of the brightest folks on earth some severe questions,” he added.
The Cleaner, in the meantime, is again for a 3rd season, and can see Davies return as Paul ‘Wicky’ Wickstead to tackle a complete host of eventful cleansing jobs. Armed as soon as extra along with his trusty field of cleansing instruments, Wicky removes extra ugly stays on the scenes of six new crimes the place he’ll encounter extra uncommon characters.
Sitcom need
The Cleaner feeds into Petrie’s need for sitcoms and the commissioner stated that is the case for patrons on either side of the pond. “That is a few excessive joke fee, relatable characters and relatable story-of-the-week stuff,” he added. “After we get exhibits like The Cleaner or [Katherine Parkinson-starrer] Right here We Go we double down and commit. You don’t must know the backstory, they’re simply large snigger exhibits and they’re nonetheless getting loopy numbers.”
Tom Basden’s Right here We Go and Daisy Could Cooper’s Am I Being Unreasonable? have been each not too long ago handed double season orders by Petrie following the success of the primary.
Petrie careworn that in a single day scores at the moment are of little worth to his division when deciding on recommissions.
“I nearly ignore them as a result of that’s simply not our world,” he added. “Quite a lot of our time is spent reminding expertise about that. It’s fairly irritating when your child will get put out to the world [and gets a low number of linear viewers] however it’s important to give issues time.”
His feedback got here as The Workplace and Folks Simply Do Nothing producer Ash Atalla instructed an RTS panel {that a} digital-first technique ought to permit broadcasters to take extra dangers on comedy expertise. “Ricky Gervais was not Gervais after we made The Workplace and Chris O’Dowd was not O’Dowd after we made The IT Crowd,” Atalla stated. “It’s important to remind the broadcasters that [big] exhibits don’t occur in a single day.”
In accordance with the BBC, 9 out of the highest 10 most-watched scripted comedies final yr have been on the nation’s public broadcaster, together with the likes of Ghosts, Not Going Out and new collection The Energy of Parker.
Elsewhere, Petrie has additionally ordered new collection Solely Little one comes from Guilt producer Comfortable Tramp North and follows a budding creator, performed by Greg McHugh, coming again to the household house in North East Scotland to take care of his ageing and wilful dad Ken, performed by Gregor Fisher.
Comedy tax credit score
Jon Petrie
BBC
Past commissioning, Petrie has been busy placing concepts collectively for a comedy tax credit score, which he first floated finally yr’s BBC Comedy Competition.
The BBC submitted its plans for a comedy tax credit score to the Tradition, Media & Sport Committee’s high-end TV and movie inquiry a number of months in the past and the thought can be separate to the present high-end TV tax credit score, which solely applies to exhibits that value greater than £1M ($1.28M) per episode.
Whereas the high-end TV tax credit score’s success has been targeted on the sum of money it has generated for the native economic system, Petrie stated a separate comedy tax credit score can be essential due to the “cultural impression” of the style, which is struggling for funding. He has been busy chatting with producers, stakeholders and the BBC’s coverage and enterprise affairs groups over the previous few months, and he stated Director Normal Tim Davie and content material boss Charlotte Moore are “genuinely very supportive” of his plans. The BBC has additionally submitted plans for a kids’s and indie movie credit score.
“I feel it’s all a part of constructing that case for comedy,” stated Petrie. “We don’t wish to be pushing an excessive amount of and should be cautious but it surely’s essential to talk up for comedy and try to guarantee a wholesome ecosystem.”
Petrie will reveal extra on the subsequent Comedy Competition, which is able to happen from 22 to 24 Could in Glasgow.
