While “The World’s End” may be the most anticipated Brit-com of the summer by quite some distance, there’s at least one other laugher landing before the weather cools that could be worth the price of admission; the big-screen debut of Alan Partridge. There’s been talk of bringing Steve Coogan‘s most seminal creation, a low-rent talk show host turned regional radio DJ, who featured in the series “Knowing Me, Knowing You” and “I’m Alan Partridge,” to the big screen for quite some time, but shooting finally got underway earlier this year for an August release date, and after a brief tease earlier in the year, a full trailer has arrived over at MSN for “Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa.”
As reported earlier, the script (co-written by Coogan, Partridge vets Neil & Rob Gibbons, “Veep” creator Armando Iannucci and “Borat” Oscar-nominee Peter Baynham, sees Alan become involved in a siege at his radio place after a colleague (Colm Meaney) is laid off, and goes postal. As you might imagine, Partridge uses the “Dog Day Afternoon” set up to boost his own profile as much as anything.
A strong cast of British comedy stalwarts has been assembled, including Darren Boyd (“The World’s End“), Nigel Lindsay (“Four Lions“), Jessica Knappett (“The Inbetweeners Movie“) and Anna Maxwell Martin (“Bleak House“) alongside returning favorites Felicity Montagu, as long-suffering PA Lynn, and Tim Key as “Side-Kick Simon.” There’s lots to laugh at here, and the promising suggestion that the film could have proper stakes in play too, so we’re excited to check it out when it opens in the U.K. on August 9th (there’s no U.S. release date as of yet).
