Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge
| Knowing Me Knowing You with Alan Partridge | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy (spoof chat show) |
| Created by | Steve Coogan Armando Iannucci Patrick Marber |
| Starring | Steve Coogan Rebecca Front Patrick Marber David Schneider Doon Mackichan |
| Theme music composer | ABBA |
| Opening theme | "Knowing Me, Knowing You" by the Steve Brown Band |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 7 including one Christmas special (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Peter Fincham |
| Producer | Armando Iannucci |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC2 |
| Release | September 16, 1994 – October 21, 1994 (Christmas Special shown on December 29, 1995) |
Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge (also known as Knowing Me, Knowing Yule or abbreviated to KMKY...WAP) is a British comedy show first broadcast on BBC Radio 4 as a six-episode series, which subsequently transferred to BBC Television with a series of six episodes (beginning 16 September 1994), and a Christmas special (Knowing Me, Knowing Yule) in 1995. It is named after the song "Knowing Me, Knowing You" by ABBA (Alan Partridge's favourite band), which was used as the show's title music.
The show was a parody of a chat show, and both the radio and television versions were so embarrassingly accurate that listeners and viewers often thought they were the real thing. Many wrote in to complain, for example, at Partridge slapping a child prodigy in an episode of the radio series. The series did feature an audience who clearly knew the show was a parody, but apparently this wasn't enough to persuade some listeners that it wasn't real.
Steve Coogan played the incompetent and annoying but self-satisfied Norwich-based host, Alan Partridge. Alan was a spin-off character from the spoof radio show On the Hour (which later transferred to TV as The Day Today).
Knowing Me, Knowing You was written by Coogan, Armando Iannucci (who produced the radio version) and Patrick Marber (who also starred), with contributions from the regular supporting cast of Doon Mackichan, Rebecca Front and David Schneider, who made up Alan's weekly onslaught of annoying and inane guests. Steve Brown also appeared as the man in charge of the house band, Glenn Ponder, and provided the show's music and arrangements for real.
Some of the more notable ‘guests’ parodied real life appearances by guests on chat shows. For example, the medical fashion parade by ‘Mrs Whippy Head’ is clearly a reference to Vivienne Westwood's infamous appearance on Wogan, and the child prodigy Simon Fisher's appearance in the radio series was seemingly inspired by James Harries' (now Lauren Harries) appearance on the same show. Adam Wells' fictional pop single "The Smiling Bicycle Of Amsterdam" utilised as its backing track John Baker's (BBC Radiophonic Workshop) 1968 station ID for BBC Radio Nottingham.
Alan went on to appear in two series of the sitcom I'm Alan Partridge, following Alan's life after his sacking from TV after punching the commissioning editor of BBC2 (David Schneider) on his Christmas special, shortly after his wife left him.
In total there have been three 'official' versions of the television series prepared by producer Armando Iannucci - the originally transmitted half-hour version (also used in most repeats and abroad), a version extended by roughly five minutes per episode for the VHS and subsequent DVD release, and a version - presumably definitive - prepared for BBC2's 2002 Partridge repeat season, again in a thirty minute slot but now featuring reinstated material from the video version (such as Partridge's promotion of the Spunt drink) and a generally tighter edit to compensate for the running time, in addition to the Partridge web address being added to the end credits. This version has not been utilised since.
Radio episodes
| Transmission date | Rebecca Front | David Schneider | Patrick Marber | Doon Mackichan | Other guests | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 December 1992 | Ally Tennant, feminist and therapist | Peter, therapy patient | Adam Wells, Sixties figure and businessman; Lawrence Camley, highbrow novelist; "Vegina" voice-actor | |||
| 2 | 8 December 1992 | Janey Katz, hypnotherapist | Simon Fisher's father, John | Nick Ford, "queer" lawyer | Simon Fisher, child prodigy | ||
| 3 | 15 December 1992 | Shirley Dee, showbiz Cockney | Chris Lester, former hostage | Michel Lambert, racing driver; Phil Collins, Lester's fellow hostage | |||
| 4 | 22 December 1992 | The Duchess of Stranraer, member of the royal family; Sandra Peaks, Junior Minister for Housing | Matt Bradley, gigolo | Steve Thompson, impressionist and comedian; Craig Bradley, gigolo | |||
| 5 | 29 December 1992 | Sally Hoff, actress/singer | Bernie Rosen, Jewish comedian | Conrad Knight, actor and Sally's husband; Jack 'the Black Cat' Calson, professional gambler | Kendall Ball, Supermodel | ||
| 6 | 5 January 1993 | Yvonne Boyd, fashion designer | Tony Hayers, Commissioning Director of BBC Television | Lord Morgan of Glossop, irascible peer | Trudy Sky, host of The Show on Def Two | ||
| 7 | 3 July 1993 | Documentary-style programme called Knowing Knowing Me, Knowing You |
Characters carried over into the TV series
Several characters from the radio series are similar to ones used in the TV series; several jokes are even reused. Doon MacKichan's character Kendall Ball did not make it into the eventual TV series but did appear in The Day Today, made between the two incarnations.
| Radio | TV |
|---|---|
| Bernie Rosen | Joe Beasley |
| Tony Hayers | Tony Hayers |
| Sally Hoff | Tania Beaumont |
| Conrad Knight | Gary Barker |
| Lord Morgan of Glossop | Forbes McAllister |
| Yvonne Boyd | Yvonne Boyd |
Television episodes
| Subject | Rebecca Front | Patrick Marber | David Schneider | Doon Mackichan | Other guests | Another Alan | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ‘Roger Moore’ | Sue Lewis, a dull showjumper | Keith Hunt, new host of This Is Your Life | Big Red Book on This Is Your Life (untransmitted sequence) | Shona McGough, an abrasive punk singer | Shona's band, Roger Moore (voice; performed by Steve Coogan) | - |
| 2 | ‘Moribund’ | Tania Beaumont, actress | Gary Barker, washed-up actor and Tania's husband | Tony LeMesmer, magician | - | Daniella Forrest, transsexual Playboy columnist (Minnie Driver) | A sailor with a facial tic (John Thomson) |
| 3 | ‘Hot’ | Gina Langland, singer | Lawrence Knowles, sleazy promoter | Clive Sealy, Lawrence's dermatologist | - | The Olympic Golden Girls of 1936; Hot Pants, an all-male strip troupe | - |
| 4 | ‘A Partridge In Paris’ | Yvonne Boyd, fashion designer with odd ideas | Phillippe Lambert, famous chef | Head of Cirque des Clunes | - | Nina Vanier, Alan's French co-host (Melanie Hudson) | Alain Perdrix, who couldn't speak English |
| 5 | ‘Partridge Over Britain’ | Charlotte Fraser (Lab) | Martin Dwyer, alias Lt. Col. Kojak Slaphead the Third (Bald Brummies Against The Big-Footed Conspiracy Party) | Adrian Finch (Con) | - | Terry Norton, dodgy boxing promoter (Alan Ford); Five Miss Norwich contestants (Barbara Durkin, plus four uncredited); Ronald Biggs (Lib Dem) (Felix Dexter) | Dead, but appeared anyway |
| 6 | ‘It Is A Live Show’ | Bridie McMahon, lesbian host of the show to take Alan's place | Forbes McAllister, cynical restaurant critic for The Spectator | - | Wanda Harvey, Bridie's lesbian co-host | The Alan Partridge Playmates; the Maclean brothers, irritating child film-makers; Joe Beazley and Cheeky Monkey, awful ventriloquist act (John Thomson) | - |
| 7 | ‘Knowing Me, Knowing Yule’ | Mary, a bellringer and devout Christian | Gordon Heron, a paralysed former golfer | Tony Hayers, Chief Commissioning Editor of BBC Television | Liz Heron, Gordon's wife and also a golfer | Fanny Thomas, innuendo-using transvestite (Kevin Eldon), Mick Hucknall | - |
External links
- Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge at BBC Online Comedy Guide
- Template:Tv.com
- Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge at the British Sitcom Guide
- Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge at Phill.co.uk Comedy Guide
- Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge at IMDb