Alan is handed a career lifeline - the chance to stand in (temporarily) as co-host on This Time, a weekday magazine show. But can he capitalise on the opportunity?
Critics Of "This Time with Alan Partridge - Season 2"
Guardian
May 05, 2021
Even if he doesn't soar quite as high or as often as he once did, Coogan/Partridge remains the best of comedy and the worst of us. It is entertainment as penance and penance as entertainment. Welcome the pain.
Sharp, funny and toe-curlingly cringeworthy in the way that only Alan can be, This Time's return is a comforting continuation of the Norfolk celeb's recent revival.
The final few minutes of this opener are satisfyingly chaotic, as Alan tries to stick to his planned broadcast in the face of an unscheduled and wholly unwelcome improvisation from his guest.
Glad to see the writers (Coogan and Neil and Rob Gibbons) have kept what worked from the first series, including Sidekick Simon's techno idiocy, and the nippy reporter who corrected everything Alan said.
There is much to love, but Coogan turns out to be the least funny thing here when isolated from the rest of the cast. If the action moves away from the awkward studio exchanges to the outside broadcasts, the show falls a bit flat.
