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| Norwich for the Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa premiere? Bravo | Norwich for the Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa premiere? Bravo |
| (3 months later) | |
| Whenever I confess that I grew up in Norfolk and, even worse, have now returned to live in Norwich, a half-smile plays around the lips of the listener. "Ah-ha," they smirk. "Home of Alan Partridge." | Whenever I confess that I grew up in Norfolk and, even worse, have now returned to live in Norwich, a half-smile plays around the lips of the listener. "Ah-ha," they smirk. "Home of Alan Partridge." |
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| Norfolkians have good cause to hate Steve Coogan. Our complex and curious county is the home of Stephen Fry, Elizabeth "fiver" Fry, Tom "Rights of Man" Paine and mystic-feminist Julian of Norwich. And yet it is embodied by the acme of narrow-minded, middle-of-the-road, sports-jacketed, Lexus-driving, middle-England broadcasting non-entities with delusions of grandeur. | Norfolkians have good cause to hate Steve Coogan. Our complex and curious county is the home of Stephen Fry, Elizabeth "fiver" Fry, Tom "Rights of Man" Paine and mystic-feminist Julian of Norwich. And yet it is embodied by the acme of narrow-minded, middle-of-the-road, sports-jacketed, Lexus-driving, middle-England broadcasting non-entities with delusions of grandeur. |
| Norwich is a fine city, England's first Unesco city of literature, and a genuine equal to more feted tourist spots such as York or Cambridge. And yet it is reduced in popular consciousness to the home of a Travel Tavern, East Anglia Polytechnic and, of course, North Norfolk Digital. So why were Norfolk folk begging on Twitter for the world premiere of Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa to be held in the city's third-best shopping centre, Anglia Square? Because we adore Alan. I don't know any son or daughter of Norfolk who doesn't. | Norwich is a fine city, England's first Unesco city of literature, and a genuine equal to more feted tourist spots such as York or Cambridge. And yet it is reduced in popular consciousness to the home of a Travel Tavern, East Anglia Polytechnic and, of course, North Norfolk Digital. So why were Norfolk folk begging on Twitter for the world premiere of Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa to be held in the city's third-best shopping centre, Anglia Square? Because we adore Alan. I don't know any son or daughter of Norfolk who doesn't. |
| "It's because we're just grateful to be noticed," mutters my Norwich-born ladyfriend. She points out that the only other cultural crumb thrown Norfolk's way is as the destination for second-rate characters when they are written out of EastEnders. You know, the ones who aren't loved enough to die. That sums it up: Norfolk – second-best to death. | "It's because we're just grateful to be noticed," mutters my Norwich-born ladyfriend. She points out that the only other cultural crumb thrown Norfolk's way is as the destination for second-rate characters when they are written out of EastEnders. You know, the ones who aren't loved enough to die. That sums it up: Norfolk – second-best to death. |
| But Alan is loved not because Norfolk is a downtrodden creative desert. Nor is he celebrated because we are sadomasochists or so stupid we can't see we're being laughed at. We love Alan because he's the best celebrity left in the world, and he's ours. | But Alan is loved not because Norfolk is a downtrodden creative desert. Nor is he celebrated because we are sadomasochists or so stupid we can't see we're being laughed at. We love Alan because he's the best celebrity left in the world, and he's ours. |
| Alan is far more rounded and reliable than any "real" television personality. "Any suggestion I've hastily cobbled together the lunchtime Norwich screening in response to a local Twitter campaign will be met with the full force of the law," said Alan, when plans for Norwich's Anglia Square world premiere a few hours ahead of the Leicester Square one were announced on Monday. What celebrity would cave into a social media campaign with such panache? | Alan is far more rounded and reliable than any "real" television personality. "Any suggestion I've hastily cobbled together the lunchtime Norwich screening in response to a local Twitter campaign will be met with the full force of the law," said Alan, when plans for Norwich's Anglia Square world premiere a few hours ahead of the Leicester Square one were announced on Monday. What celebrity would cave into a social media campaign with such panache? |
| Alan Partridge is undoubtedly the greatest comic creation of the last quarter century. Since first appearing 22 years ago, Coogan and his co-writers have turned him into a far more nuanced figure than say, a Kevin the teenager stereotype or a David Brent cringe-maker. From being a young man trapped in the body of an old, rabid rightwinger, Alan has mellowed into an avuncular, almost right-on figure after two decades of failure and putting his foot in it. When 22nd century historians consider our celebrity culture, Alan will be their poster boy. | Alan Partridge is undoubtedly the greatest comic creation of the last quarter century. Since first appearing 22 years ago, Coogan and his co-writers have turned him into a far more nuanced figure than say, a Kevin the teenager stereotype or a David Brent cringe-maker. From being a young man trapped in the body of an old, rabid rightwinger, Alan has mellowed into an avuncular, almost right-on figure after two decades of failure and putting his foot in it. When 22nd century historians consider our celebrity culture, Alan will be their poster boy. |
| When I interviewed Coogan on the set of Alpha Papa earlier this year, he admitted he felt "slightly guilty" that his character was seen as "casting aspersions on the city". I told him I thought even twitchy tourism officials loved him now and he said: "Some do, some don't. A few die-hard traditionalists think it trivialises the history of Norwich." I was momentarily disconcerted when Coogan told me he didn't know anything about Norwich at the time he and his co-writers chose it as Alan's home but then he showed that he perfectly grasped the spirit of the place. "We looked on a map and geographically and metaphorically it suited Alan because it's not north and it's not south – it's got an otherness," said Coogan. "It's probably the most isolated city in England and that also makes it interesting and appropriate." | When I interviewed Coogan on the set of Alpha Papa earlier this year, he admitted he felt "slightly guilty" that his character was seen as "casting aspersions on the city". I told him I thought even twitchy tourism officials loved him now and he said: "Some do, some don't. A few die-hard traditionalists think it trivialises the history of Norwich." I was momentarily disconcerted when Coogan told me he didn't know anything about Norwich at the time he and his co-writers chose it as Alan's home but then he showed that he perfectly grasped the spirit of the place. "We looked on a map and geographically and metaphorically it suited Alan because it's not north and it's not south – it's got an otherness," said Coogan. "It's probably the most isolated city in England and that also makes it interesting and appropriate." |
| Whether it's postmodernism or just post-Partridge, Norfolk is blossoming in the era of Alan. There's Alan graffiti on walls and stag dos arrive in Norwich dressed in Alan Partridge face masks. In a perfect example of life imitating art, Norfolk has its very own handsome young(ish) sports presenter, Jake Humphrey, who may not be residing in the Linton Travel Tavern but is no stranger to Accidental Partridge, the Twitter account which logs just how regularly TV personalities lapse into Partridgese. | Whether it's postmodernism or just post-Partridge, Norfolk is blossoming in the era of Alan. There's Alan graffiti on walls and stag dos arrive in Norwich dressed in Alan Partridge face masks. In a perfect example of life imitating art, Norfolk has its very own handsome young(ish) sports presenter, Jake Humphrey, who may not be residing in the Linton Travel Tavern but is no stranger to Accidental Partridge, the Twitter account which logs just how regularly TV personalities lapse into Partridgese. |
| All we need now is for Elizabeth Fry to bow out of service on the five-pound note and Churchill to step aside in favour of the real master of the pithy bon mot. | All we need now is for Elizabeth Fry to bow out of service on the five-pound note and Churchill to step aside in favour of the real master of the pithy bon mot. |
| • This article was amended on 9 July 2013. It originally stated that the Darkness were from Norfolk. They are in fact from Suffolk. This has now been corrected | • This article was amended on 9 July 2013. It originally stated that the Darkness were from Norfolk. They are in fact from Suffolk. This has now been corrected |
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