Alan Partridge film: teaser video and title revealed
Plus, co-writer Neil Gibbons tells RadioTimes.com what they originally wanted to call it...
The first teaser video and publicity still (above) for the Alan Partridge film have been released – along with the official title.
The teaser trailer was released today via the film's YouTube channel, and features Alan and his radio sidekick Simon (Tim Key), along with another character played by Dustin Demri-Burns, trying to name the movie with a view to producing a teaser trailer.
As the teaser video reveals, the movie debut of Steve Coogan's comic alter ego will be called Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa.
Talking to RadioTimes.com, writer Neil Gibbons – who scripted the film along with his twin brother Rob Gibbons, Coogan, Armando Iannucci and Peter Baynham – said the Partridge team wanted the title to be "something memorable that felt Alan-y, fitted the tone of the movie, and didn't feel like a clever film spoof or a dull unit-shifter chosen by a marketing department.
"It's like naming a child," Gibbons added. "Some people will like it, some will hate it."
Interview: meet Neil and Rob Gibbons, the men who made Alan Partridge funnier than ever
Gibbons also revealed the film's real-life working title. "We spent an afternoon round Steve's kitchen table chucking ideas around, and came up with a long list. Because realistically, the early working title - Alan Partridge: Shitstorm - was never going to fly."
The movie is about to enter the editing stage. "We're a couple of days away from the first assembly, which will be long and fat and baggy," Gibbons said. "Then we'll hone the living slack out of it.
"I always think loads of the writing is done in the edit, even more so with Alan Partridge, so I'm looking forward to cracking on with it."
Location shooting began in January, taking place entirely in Norfolk and unavoidably revealing part of the plot: that after being chased by police in scenes shot in Sheringham and Norwich, Alan ends up embroiled in a shoot-out on Cromer pier. The story begins when Alan's home station, North Norfolk Digital, is threatened by a corporate takeover.
Appearing with Coogan in the film are Partridge regulars Felicity Montagu, Simon Greenall, Tim Key and Phil Cornwell, alongside Anna Maxwell Martin, Sean Pertwee, Dustin Demri-Burns, Darren Boyd, Monica Dolan, Colm Meaney and Nigel Lindsay.
"The shoot was enjoyably chaotic and the cast were heroic," Neil Gibbons told RadioTimes.com. "They had to contend with constant rewrites, tweaks and new ideas – the Partridge way, basically – so Christ knows how they kept on top of actually acting."
Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa is released in UK cinemas on 7 August.
