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Steve Coogan explains why Alan Partridge is getting involved in #MeToo

27 February 2019, 11:08 | Updated: 27 February 2019, 11:11

Alan Partridge will tackle the Me Too movement in new BBC daytime show This Time. Picture: Heart

By Polly Foreman

EXCLUSIVE: Steve Coogan told Heart why it's so important that his alter-ego Alan Partridge gets stuck in to the #MeToo movement.

Steve Coogan has finally brought Alan Partridge back to our screens, and he previously spoke to Heart about his decision to tackle Me Too in his new show.

This Time is a fictional 'The One Show' style daytime programme that will see Alan attempt to deal with a number of issues facing the contemporary world.

This Time with Alan Partridge is now airing weekly on BBC1. Picture: BBC

One of these is Me Too, the worldwide movement to end sexual harassment and assault that gained prominence following the accusations against Harvey Weinstein in October 2017, and Alan Partridge creator Steve Coogan has dedicated an entire episode to this subject.

Speaking exclusively to Heart about his decision to tackle such an emotive topic, Steve said: "Alan can't exist in a bubble.

"He has to relate to the world around him. And I always gravitate with Alan towards any subject that is difficult or fraught with pitfalls.

"I'm a middle-aged white middle-class man, and the power play between people of my ilk and women, especially young women, is something that is part of the zeitgeist.

"People were talking about it, and I felt I couldn't not talk about it with Alan.

"It's very difficult to laugh about things that are problematic but it's important that we do in the right way. And I think Alan is the perfect vehicle to tackle that."

Alan Partridge is a fictional TV and Radio presenter who first appeared on spoof BBC Radio 4 current affairs show On The Hour in 1993. Steve later won two BAFTAs for BBC sitcom I’m Alan Partridge, which first hit screens in 1997.

Steve stars alongside Step Brothers star John C. Reilly in Stan And Ollie, a British film about the twilight years of comedy double-act Laurel and Hardy.

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