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Alan Partridge is in crisis! However, many are in similar straits today? When we last saw him on screen, Alan had an on-air breakdown while fronting the entertainment series This Time, wrapping up with him excluded of the BBC. In the opening of his independent production, the informative film How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge), Alan discloses he’s since hit another low by fainting into the lap of a female interviewee at an industry gathering for an agricultural firm. Challenging periods, yet figures like Partridge recover: connect struggles with societal themes and see if you can get a series out of it.

Exploring the Epidemic of Anxiety

How Are You? features Coogan’s timeless character in roving factual mode, probing widespread emotional struggles that he perceives as escalating: “If I can use an outdated term, it’s just got mental!” His path includes dabbling in faith, reconnect with friends from school, and enjoy therapeutic hikes, alongside facing his history. Episode one builds towards a hostile but cathartic reunion with “Sidekick” Simon Denton (Tim Key), his old partner from past shows, and throughout the series, hidden moments from his career emerge.

Alongside his co-writers and directors, How Are You? is a sideways move. While the previous show explored new ground, How Are You? often retreads it: as well as directly reviving old formats, it mirrors earlier faux-documentaries of the last decade. With his personal issues seeping into the content, it recalls his audio ventures.

Dual Personas of the Character

It creates a slight challenge. We see two versions of Alan: Successful Alan (with high-profile jobs) and Wilderness Alan (doesn’t), and despite Wilderness Alan leading the beloved show I’m Alan Partridge back in 1997, a reflective version has emerged lately in books and audio projects. How Are You? places us inside the oasthouse and casts Katherine Kelly as Katrina, Alan’s wildly unsuitable paramour from the podcast. Yet this heartbreaking narrative – Alan is in denial about Katrina cheating on him with a pal and business owner – seems better suited to podcast pacing, enabling mental imagery to amplify laughs. Off-screen, the character feels more expansive: modern TV excels at pressuring the successful Alan and observing his collapse, as seen before.

Comedy Through Flaws

Still, these are minor points compared to a major truth: across all platforms, he delivers the most laughs in Britain, and even placeholder Partridge has more laughs-out-loud per half-hour than other TV programs. How Are You? has Alan in multiple creative roles, which showcases his knack for blunders and misjudgments. If he thinks Britain’s mental health problems are best illustrated by an aggressively edited montage of exploding fruit, it will be included, and there’s nobody to tell him that he’s accidentally used the word “tastistics” or other mistakes in commentary. The slight grimace we regularly catch as he strides out of shot sensing the scene went poorly consistently amuses, and likewise for his interlude creations, highlighted by his awkward, caring expressions while drinking tea clumsily.

Memorable Scenes and Sentiments

Is there anything more joyous than Alan grunting as he squats down next to a skip? Surely not. Visually he’s a feast too, with a poorly chosen hair shade, and his clothing showcasing loud pants, contrasting shoes, multiple gilets and excited response to fashion trends.

Moreover, the content reveals his deeper side that emerged with the current writers. Several times, it delivers poignant moments, where Alan’s lack of self-awareness reveals a sadness that nearly brings viewers to tears, before the persona snaps back in and we’re crying from laughter again instead. That can happen because we’ve loved him for so long: every appearance is appreciated.