Mid Morning Matters with Alan Partridge

While it takes a while to get going, "Mid Morning Matters" is a brilliant parody of commercial radio.

A decade after "I'm Alan Partridge", there's a number of differences with "Matters": the show's perspective is from a webcam (which takes getting used to), it focuses almost entirely on Alan's radio show (though we get glimpses of Alan's new romance), and episodes are only 12 minutes long (24 segments in total). The show is full of silly radio stunts, inoffensive pop music, disastrous interviews, and trivial talkback topics.

In the Partridge tradition, he manages to cheese off nearly every guest or caller. Even his relationship with co-host Sidekick Simon (Tim Key) is rocky at times: Simon is fired near the end of season one, but returns for season two.

There's two segments in "Matters" that really stand out and show different sides of Partridge.

The first is when Patridge fills in for a current affairs show. While it's meant to be a serious political discussion with a local politician, Alan tries to take over (even though he's clearly out of his depth) and attempts to 'ambush' the guest over bus prices.

The second one is with Dave Clifton (a fellow DJ who Partridge had a running battle with in "I'm Alan Partridge") - while it starts with Partridge and Clifton resuming their rivalry, Patridge is visibly moved by Clifton's addiction problems and how it affected his relationship with his son. It's a rare look into Partridge's human side, a nice change from his usual arrogance and ineptitude.

For our transatlantic cousins, who only know Steve Coogan from small(ish) roles in Hollywood movies such as 'The Other Guys', 'Tropic Thunder' etc., the character he plays here is a British cult hero. Coogan's performance as Alan Partridge, a cringeworthy ex-TV presenter, now an equally cringeworthy radio DJ, is quite inspired. Mid Morning Matters is his latest venture, and though only short in length are incredibly high in quality.

It is rare that I would use the term 'comic genius', but Steve Coogan is one. The incredible observational skill of Coogan when it comes down to the finest detail that most of us would miss, is astonishing. Ricky Gervais is exceptional and has made a large impact on Hollywood for a number of reasons. But Gervais is more of an extrovert, and Coogan the man, is a lot more enigmatic.

I don't know if that is part of the reason as to why he is not a leading man in Hollywood to be honest. Maybe being more outspoken like Will Ferrell or Gervais off-camera gets more attention. Or maybe Coogan's comedy has too many nuances for mainstream audiences in the US. Maybe they need Sacha Boran Cohen's sledgehammer 'Borat' style comedy. But for me, as good as the previous three are, I think Coogan is better. I'd pick Steve Coogan for my screenplay's 'comic relief' any day of the week.

Mid Morning Matters may well be one of the most underappreciated comedy shows ever made. Alan Partridge's transition from clumsy self-absorption to misplaced pomposity has been handled almost perfectly by Steve Coogan.

While I will probably always consider 'I'm Alan Partridge' to be his greatest work, this show is arguably a greater demonstration of Coogan's observational skills. The balance between uproarious slapstick comedy and the sardonic take on UK media is exquisitely executed, with expert assistance from some perfectly conceived co-characters.

This is a show that should be watched multiple times to allow the deeper subtleties to fully emerge. It may not have as many instant high payoff moments as earlier Partridge material, but the precise attention to detail makes it a real gem for lovers of satire.

I recently re-watched the second season and had to keep regularly pausing so I didn't laugh over other parts of the show. I sometimes find 'cringe comedies' painful to watch on occasions but Coogan's Alan Partridge can do it to perfection. I enjoyed 'Knowing Me Knowing You' but this doesn't contain any canned laughter, which benefits the more subtle moments of humour.... "Do you know what one of the biggest killers in society is?" .."Harold Shipman?", "No obesity!"

It was only watching the mostly OK Partridge movie recently that I found about this web series that Coogan also made. Although IMDb lists several seasons and a multitude of episodes, I was only able to find 12 episodes which does make up almost two and a half hours of material. The scenario is simple for the show, Partridge is now presenting on the digital radio station North Norfolk Digital and the ten minute episodes are made up of him on air and in front of the webcam. It is a simple idea but as we saw from the film, with Partridge it is usually the smaller character moments that get the biggest laughs.

With this series it is not the absolute best that Coogan has ever done with partridge but it is a fairly consistent and funny set of episodes because they frequently play to his strengths. As a character he is a great mix of warm insincerity, anger, intolerance, impatience, personality and poor social awareness. The show may not have too many big headline moments but it has lots of small cracks and tensions around Partridge, whether it be him wandering down an uncomfortably painful line of conversation or him clearly struggling with his own sense of inadequacy while at the same time being angered by it. He is a great character and when he is done well then he can work well in a movie or even just sitting in a simple room with a microphone, as indeed this series shows.

Coogan himself is great and I do love that although he has done well for himself in the US and in films, he has never trying to walk away from Partridge nor lose touch with what makes the character great (even if the film as a whole sort of did). The various supporting roles are pretty good. Tim Key is actually better in the film but here he is still pretty funny and he "awkwards" well next to Coogan. Duffy has a simpler role on the face of it (essentially she is a pretty face to allow Coogan to play a certain way) but she still does it well, playing along until she hits an awkward wall – Coogan gets the laughs but she often did as much of the work.

I'll make an effort to seek out if there are more of these episodes around or not because I did enjoy this series. It is simple and, in its simplicity it allows Alan to be Alan and more often than not this is engaging, funny, painful and awkward all in equally entertaining measures.