Television series
This Time with Alan Partridge
- Comedy
- Light-hearted
Alan Partridge gets one last shot at the big time, filling in on a BBC magazine show. It's a mockumentary about a man constitutionally incapable of learning from his mistakes, watching him navigate live television, office politics, and his own bottomless capacity for self-sabotage. For anyone who finds cringe comedy funny rather than painful.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you love cringe comedy built on a self-deluded man's pride colliding with mundane workplace rituals, and the awkward silences that follow.
Skip it if you want quick gags or fast plotting; this is a slow burn of humiliation living in the gaps between lines, and Partridge's bluster goes a long way.
What it asks of you: Half an hour an episode, twelve episodes across two series, asking for steady attention to watch the squirm build rather than sitting back for big set pieces.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
The Thick of It2005
Political satire with the same documentary realism and rapid-fire humiliation. Armando Iannucci's masterpiece about spin doctors who are brilliant at everything except actually being competent. Genuinely devastating and hilarious in equal measure.
But Relentlessly dark and profane. If you can't enjoy watching smart people fail spectacularly under pressure, this will just feel mean.
I'm Alan Partridge1997
The original series that made Partridge a character for the ages. Tighter, meaner, with the full force of early-2000s British comedy behind it. If you liked This Time, the source material is unmissable.
But It's twenty years old now and the broadcast TV world it satirises has moved on. Some of the references have weathered less well than the central character.
Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge1994
Coogan's proto-Partridge as a chat show host, absurd and oblivious in ways that prefigure everything that came after. Radio comedy translated to television with genuine wit and bizarre guest interactions that feel entirely real.
But It's deliberately poorly made and shot, which some people find grating rather than funny. The humour is very specifically about bad television rather than story.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from This Time with Alan Partridge
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
The Newsroom2012
Both are obsessed with the gap between how broadcasting should work and how it actually does. Where Partridge is comedy from incompetence, The Newsroom is tragedy from good intentions.
Aaron Sorkin's idealistic drama about a cable news operation where everyone is brilliant, competent, and constantly making mistakes. It's the exact opposite register from Partridge—sincere instead of ironic—but both are about broadcast television as a system that breaks people.
But Earnest to the point of preachiness. Sorkin's dialogue is exhausting if you don't love his particular style, and the politics are unsubtle.
More like this (7)
People Just Do Nothing2014
Mockumentary following a pirate radio station run by people with zero self-awareness. Same DNA as Alan Partridge—watching incompetent people think they're geniuses—but with warmer characters and a different comedic register.
But It takes a few episodes to find its rhythm. The early seasons are looser and less focused than they eventually become.
Twenty Twelve2011
Armando Iannucci again, this time satirising Olympic bureaucracy. The mockumentary style, the slow-motion trainwrecks, the well-meaning idiocy—it's made by someone who understands Partridge's world intimately.
But Very specific to the 2012 Olympics moment. Some of the satire has dated because the actual Olympics are no longer topical.
Veep2012
American equivalent of The Thick of It but focused on political incompetence at the highest level. Sharp, caustic, brilliantly performed. Same love of watching capable people behave badly.
But Blisteringly crude in a way that can feel exhausting. It's relentless in its cynicism and never offers genuine warmth.
The Day Today1994
Early Armando Iannucci and Chris Morris's absurdist satire of news broadcasting. Anarchic, surreal, and genuinely innovative. The DNA of mockumentary comedy runs directly through here.
But It's deliberately stupid and chaotic in ways that some viewers find more irritating than funny. Very much a product of its specific moment in British comedy.
Saxondale2006
Steve Coogan again as a different character entirely—an obsessive, rage-filled former rock musician. Same documentary realism, same cringe, but angrier and weirder. Proof Coogan's brilliance extends beyond Partridge.
But Darker and more aggressive than Partridge. If you want warmth or character development, this isn't it—it's sustained hostility as comedy.
The Office2001
The godfather of British mockumentary comedy. David Brent is the spiritual grandfather of Alan Partridge—a man whose self-delusion is so complete it becomes tragic. Essential viewing for understanding where this all came from.
But It's painfully awkward in ways that some people find genuinely unwatchable rather than entertaining. The humiliation is relentless and occasionally feels cruel.
Broadcast News1987
Same world, same institutional machinery, same cast of flawed people trying to make television work. But where This Time laughs at the chaos, Broadcast News mourns what's lost in it.
James L. Brooks's film about a news magazine show where ambition, romance, and professional ethics collide. Beautifully written, impeccably performed, genuinely moving. It takes television seriously in ways that make it the dramatic counterpart to Partridge's comedy.
But It's earnest and romantic in a way that feels dated. The 1980s styling and the slow pacing will feel creaky to anyone raised on faster comedy.
People
Cast
Production
- Joe FraserAssociate Producer
- Christine LanganExecutive Producer
- Kate DaughtonExecutive Producer
- Neil GibbonsExecutive Producer
- Rob GibbonsExecutive Producer
- Rupert MajendieExecutive Producer
- Steve CooganExecutive Producer
- Andrew HarveyLine Producer
- Rebecca KerleyLine Producer
- Dave LambertProducer
- Ted DowdProducer