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Alan was interviewed on Clive Anderson - All Talk which was recorded 20-11-97. This was right about the time I'm Alan Partridge was being broadcast on Â鶹ԼÅÄ2.
CAÌýÌýYou were king of the chat shows, you were right up there, what’s happened to your show?
APÌýÌýI thought I was working at it when chat shows were at their peak, I think I got out while the going was good.
CAÌýÌýSome people say that the chat show is dead, maybe it’s just this one…
APÌýÌýYou’re making a joke there but there is a serious point which is that people fade. You know. Michael Parkinson, where is he now?
CAÌýÌýHe’s coming back on I think. Not tonight. He’s back next year…
APÌýÌýYeah. (nodding) It’ll bomb.
CAÌýÌýWhat’s your secret of how to do a good interview?
APÌýÌýI don’t know, it’s not an exact science. Not like physics or biology. If, for example, I was interviewing someone like Idi Amin.. A lot of people would think Idi Amin ‘butcher’ who murdered a lot of people in Uganda but when you meet him there’s a whole other side to his character. He’s tremendously good at Connect Four.
CAÌýÌýRight. And you’d bring that out of him?
APÌýÌýOf course. For example we all know the stories of him putting his wife’s head in the fridge. Now I’d obviously want to broach that but I wouldn’t say ‘Idi, what’s all this about you putting your wife’s head in the fridge?’ That would be too obtuse. I’d simply say something like: ‘Idi, have you got any anecdotes about your time when you were the boss of Uganda? I’m thinking here about fridges?' A nod and a wink.
CAÌýÌýNow why did the Â鶹ԼÅÄ axe your show? Do you know why?
APÌýÌýWell - (Alan struggles for words) …I had a number of problems. I shot a man dead. I was cleared at a subsequent enquiry. I was found guilty of a minor offence of unlicensed use of a firearm but that… is petty.
CAÌýÌýAnd they held that against you and so you are now on Radio Norwich. Now is that a… Is that a… Are you happy on Radio Norwich? Is it…?
APÌýÌýIt’s always good to finish the sentence, otherwise it’s just dead air, it’s dead time.
CAÌýÌýYes. You just looked as though you were going to answer.
APÌýÌýNo, I was just waiting for you to finish, I’m not that, not that rude. Different technique. No, I mean, Radio Norwich is for me… It’s a very exciting time to be there…
CAÌýÌýWhy would that be?
APÌýÌýWell because Nick Peacock, who is in charge, do you know him?
CAÌýÌýNo.
APÌýÌýNick was in charge of the big revamp there. He was behind the controversial decision to go thrice weekly with Sonia Manion’s Norfolk Nights.
CAÌýÌýDid that work?
APÌýÌýHe got a lot of flak but it paid off, it worked.
CAÌýÌýExcellent. So you went to him and he put you straight on to…
APÌýÌýI went there and said, you know, Nick, errm, what can I do? And he said do what you like because, err, because he’s my cousin.
CAÌýÌýAnd you chose the 4.30am to 7.00am slot, the pre-breakfast hour?
APÌýÌýThe pre-breakfast hour. Some people call it the graveyard slot and they are people who are bitter because my audience is divided to early morning farmers and late night returning ravers. But I’m pleased. I mean at one point it looked like, horror of horrors, I was going to be on Radio Ipswich you know, with that bunch of losers. But with Radio Norwich I’m on an even keel.
CAÌýÌýRight, what do you think, as a bit of an outsider now, what do you think of the state of British television?
APÌýÌýThere are some presenters who… you know, there’s a fine line for example between, you know, having a bit of a jape, a bit of a joke, bit of a humorous dig at someone and just being plain rude.
CAÌýÌýAnd where would that line be, do you think?
APÌýÌýErrm. Behind you.
CAÌýÌýSo what do you think of spoof chat show hosts or pretend ones like Larry Sanders? Very, very funny show the Larry Sanders show. Have you seen that? Very Good.
APÌýÌýI don’t quite get the joke. (pulls a puzzled face) Hello? Can you explain it please?
CAÌýÌýYou don’t see anything of you in that? You didn’t see the way a talk show is put together in America the way your one might have been put together?
APÌýÌýWe weren’t scared of asking difficult questions; some questions that were, if you like, irrelevant. But we would ask them and we would ask uncomfortable questions which would sometimes lead to people, you know, walking off. I don’t know if you’ve experienced that?
CAÌýÌýOh yes, yes. I’ve had that just recently but so far I haven’t killed anyone but I’m willing to make an exception tonight. Now I say you’re not on television at the moment but there is a sort of fly on the wall documentary on you at the moment on Â鶹ԼÅÄ2, Monday nights.
APÌýÌýYes. I’m very angry about that because I was misled into thinking they were going to study the life of a chat show [host]… it’s come out not the way I would have wanted...
CAÌýÌýBut with your experience on television you would have realised things are bound to go wrong when you agree to a documentary like that…
(Alan looks at his watch. There is an awkward pause. Alan shrugs.)
CAÌýÌýBut it shows you… isn’t it your lowest ebb? You’re staying in a hotel…
APÌýÌýNo, Linton Travel Tavern is a very… (The audience laugh at the mention of this and Alan gives them an icy look.) It’s actually a very, very pleasant place to stay. Not a lot of people know but it has a fantastic carvery.
CAÌýÌýNow the other thing that you are perhaps noted for is your fashion sense and your style. Is this something you deliberately work on…?
APÌýÌýI’ll tell you who inspired me to some extent was Ian Woosnam the Welsh golf champion who I saw at Gatwick Airport wearing an ordinary sweater, just like all the other ones, but he turned around and, a lovely touch this, he had seven suede stars on the back, lovely little touch, just sort of elevated him above the airport rabble with their duty free cigarettes and their fat children.
CAÌýÌýThe other thing the documentary has rather intruded into is your personal, your private life. I wouldn’t normally go on about that…
APÌýÌýI don’t like to talk about that.
CAÌýÌýNo. You don’t. No. But is there any chance of you getting back together with your wife, do you think?
APÌýÌý(feigns confusion) Err.. Did you hear the answer to the question?
CAÌýÌýSo you don’t want to talk about that?
APÌýÌýNo.
CAÌýÌýNo. Okay. Fair enough. So what are your plans…
APÌýÌý(Alan cuts in) Basically what happened was my wife, she moved out, well she kicked me out. She’s living with a fitness instructor. Idiot. But I mean the real focus of my life are my children, Denise and Fernando. Fernando has just left Cambridge. Cambridge University, not the area. He’s working for the U.N. doing sort of aid relief and wasting his life.
CAÌýÌýNot going into broadcasting?
APÌýÌýNo. And then Denise, I was worried about her. She was working for the I.C.A. (Institute of Contemporary Arts) doing experiment Action Art. I said to her never mind I.C.A., why not join I.C.I.? I was making a joke. But there was a serious point behind it and I’m pleased to say now that she’s doing very well as one of the senior managers for Freeman Hardy Willis.
CAÌýÌýExcellent. And being a chat show host, is that gone now? Is that period behind you now? Parky is back.
PAÌýÌýWell if it appears behind me I’m more likely to back into it. But I’d prefer it in front of me then I can see where I’m going. I mean I don’t want to mount a campaign. That would be irresponsible. But if people want to write to their MPs and err.. That’s up to them.
CAÌýÌýWell I’m sure they’re inspired to do that now. Thank you for joining us tonight, Alan Partridge.
(crowd cheers)
back to Now and Beyond
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