Back of the net! Cashback! Spice world! Jackanackanori! Alan Partridge is coming back to the BBC!
Yep, after years out in local radio wilderness, it looks like Alan might finally have bounced back, and is getting his own BBC show at the start of next year.
Steve Coogan made the announcement on The One Show, telling hosts Alex Jones and Amol Rajan: “Alan will be back on the BBC early next year, there will be a lot of Alan on TV next year.
“I’m trying to do a leak to the press about it. He’ll just be back on a show, it might be a bit like this. I’m here to do research.”
This has led to speculation that Alan’s new series could be a One Show-style chat show.
It’s been 15 years since Alan last appeared in his own BBC show – and more than 20 since he was essentially retired as a chat show host when he accidentally shot a guest dead live on air during the final episode of Knowing Me, Knowing You.
This was followed by two seasons of I’m Alan Partridge, what many fans believe to be the peak Partridge years, and the show that was responsible for most of his famous quotes.
That show saw him as a radio show host at Radio Norwich, before he moved to North Norfolk Digital in Sky Atlantic show Mid Morning Matters.
And Alan then enjoyed some time on the big screen – 2013's Alpha Papa saw him play the hero as he was responsible for foiling a siege and championing the value of local radio all in one.
Coogan had been on The One Show to promote Alan’s new travel book, Nomad, but obviously decided he fancied letting a little secret slip too.
“Alan feels he could have invented The One Show and been its main anchor over the years,” he told the hosts.
And when asked about how he goes about creating a character like Alan, he added: “He is in some ways like a real person because when you write him, you feel like there is a fourth person in the room.
“I quite like Alan even though he’s an idiot. But eventually you want to go away and leave him alone. It’s like a relative you don’t mind seeing at Christmas but you would’t want to live with.”
We can’t wait to have him back on BBC screens – get ready for some monkey tennis.
