Fri 30 Apr 2021 17.00 EDT
It is perhaps a slightly coarser, less exquisite agony than in his absolute prime but agony it truly remains. Welcome â if that is the word â to the return of Steve Coogan in the new series of This Time with Alan Partridge (BBC One). Such is the ongoing mastery of his creation â brought again to awful, hilarious life by Coogan and his post-Armando Iannucci collaborators Neil and Rob Gibbons â that I flinch from the pain even as I remember the laughs.
Partridge has survived as co-host of the show, a perfect parody of current affairs programmes such as The One Show and Good Morning Britain (with Alan a less secure version of Piers Morgan, their lunging need to be noticed springing from difference founts, and Susannah Fieldingâs Jennie Gresham essaying the Susanna Reid âsmile like itâs not an act of self-harmâ role). âCovering everything! From aqua-aerobics to abortion! From zebras to Zionism!â But a new producer has come in and, to Alanâs alarm, has already tweaked the theme tune. Itâs enough to set him spiralling into the personal and professional paranoia that will dog him until the day God at last takes pity and reaches out a hand to still the high-pitched ringing of his soul.