Skip to Content

Arts Intel Report

How Are You? It's Alan (Partridge)

Alan Partridge in How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge).

Four years ago, the comedian Alan Partridge was fired from the BBC, and he found himself in involuntary semi-retirement. It was an idyllic state, somewhat sleepy. But then came a nasty run-in, he told the Financial Times, with “the invisible monster they call mental health.” It occurred to him that the subject wasn’t getting enough attention, especially in a documentary capacity. Hence this six-part, 28-minute-per-episode mockumentary How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge), in which he looks at everything from gender (is fox-hunting a minority identity?) to the decline of community spaces and the mental health of farmers. It’s a must-watch. The Guardian wrote that this is “the funniest he’s been in years.” —Elena Clavarino

Photo courtesy of the BBC