It’s so quotable.
The episode started a little differently this week as Alan Partridge (Steve Coogan) stood pacing back and forth muttering to himself as he waited to do a sombre eulogy to the man he’d taken over from on the show, John Baskell.
After flying away on a tangent to tell an anecdote about birds and a train set, there was also a pre-recorded tribute to Baskell which basically set the tone for the rest of the episode.
“John didn’t live his life so much like a candle in the wind as like an oil rig flare stack in a North Sea gale,” Partridge said.
“Like an oil rig, he drew on huge reserves of energy, was physically quite squat, and thanks to his prodigious whisky intake, helped prop up the economy of Scotland.”
Episode two of This Time with Alan Partridge was even better than the first as it mingled awkwardness, jealousy, bitterness and above all, comedy into a thoroughly entertaining half hour.
But while it started out as Partridge trying to grab the limelight from a deceased colleague it ended up turning into an episode about the #MeToo movement.
Nobody is quite as cutting as Partridge when he wants to be, a fact that was demonstrated when he said: “A lot of people look at you Sam and think, ‘How does he do it?’ To go from nature programmes to one of the biggest gigs on the BBC History team. That’s quite a feat.
“And, little known fact, your father was head of Factual Programming until recently wasn’t he?”
Alan’s lap of honour. #ThisTime #AlanPartridge pic.twitter.com/arpkfHStpb
— BBC Comedy (@bbccomedy) March 4, 2019
Although there were just some moments random brilliance as well…
Can someone check on the top right guy please #ThisTime pic.twitter.com/qizRpnMe8X
— Scott Bryan (@scottygb) March 4, 2019
Although it did have customary moments where the awkwardness exceeded the acceptable levels and you just wanted it all to end.
Clip via BBC
We can’t wait for next week’s episode already…
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