Britain’s prodigal son Alan Partridge is returning to TV this winter. As we previously reported, Steve Coogan will be stepping back into the role of inept radio host in another season of his mockumentary sitcom Mid Morning Matters. According to DigitalSpy, Sky Atlantic hasn’t officially confirmed the premiere date for Mid Morning Matters, but writer Neil Gibbons tweeted that the show will return February 8.
Mid Morning Matters started as a web series in 2010 and was later re-edited into six half-hour episodes that aired on Sky in 2012. The show’s shot from the perspective of a webcam in “North Norfolk Digital,” where Partridge works as a disc jockey with his sidekick Simon (Tim Key) and, later, his other sidekick Zoe (Pippa Duffy). It’s full of the kind of dry comedy British audiences love and American comedy nerds brag that they “get.”
Though he’s never really crossed over in the United States, the character of Alan Partridge has been an icon of British comedy since 1991, when he first debuted as a spoof of British radio personalities. Since then Coogan has reprised the role on sitcoms, Christmas specials, autobiographies, and a feature film that finally brought the character stateside.
In addition to this new season of Mid Morning Matters, a sequel to Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa is also in the works. That means, unfortunately, Coogan will probably be too busy with Partridge in the near future to write Philomena 2.