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Alan Partridge finds himself in a predicament! But then, who isn’t these days? During his previous television outing, Alan had an on-air breakdown while fronting the entertainment series This Time, wrapping up with him excluded of the BBC. At the start of his new, self-produced project, the light documentary How Are You? It’s Alan (Partridge), the broadcaster reveals he’s experienced another setback by collapsing onto a woman during an interview at an industry gathering for an agricultural firm. Challenging periods, yet figures like Partridge recover: tie your troubles to a national trend and try to develop a program from it.

Investigating Mental Health Trends

How Are You? showcases the beloved persona in investigative guise, looking into an epidemic of anxiety, stress and loneliness that he feels is worsening: “If I can use an outdated term, it’s just got mental!” The journey will see him experiment with religion, meet up with former classmates, and embark on calming rural strolls, while dealing with his past. Initial episodes culminate in a fraught but healing gathering with “Sidekick” Simon Denton (Tim Key), an ex-co-worker from broadcasting days, and throughout the series, we’re shown unseen clips from Alan’s stints.

With Coogan and his creative partners, How Are You? marks a change of pace. In contrast to earlier innovations, How Are You? sometimes rehashes past ideas: along with bringing back former styles, the series echoes past satirical documentaries from the 2010s. With his personal issues seeping into the content, viewers will think of his podcast work.

Contrasting Alans

This leads to a minor issue. The character has two facets: Successful Alan (with high-profile jobs) and Wilderness Alan (doesn’t), and even though the underdog Alan shone in the classic series I’m Alan Partridge back in 1997, a more wistful Wilderness Alan has recently taken flight in books and audio projects. How Are You? situates us in his world and includes Kelly in the role of Katrina, a mismatched romantic partner from the podcast. But that tragic tale – he ignores her infidelity with an acquaintance and entrepreneur – might have worked best in audio form, where the listener’s imagination can co-write the comedy. Off-screen, the character feels more expansive: modern TV excels at pressuring the successful Alan and watching him implode, as happened on previous shows.

Humor in Mistakes

Still, these are minor points compared to a major truth: whatever medium he inhabits, Partridge remains the funniest comic creation in Britain, and brief appearances yield constant humor than other TV programs. How Are You? is produced and directed by Alan, as well as starring him, which opens up his genius for sloppy errors and poor editorial decisions. Should he believe exploding fruit represents mental health, that’s what we’re getting, and no one corrects his verbal errors or other mistakes in commentary. The subtle wince he shows off-camera aware that the segment was a failure never stops being funny, and likewise for his interlude creations, the best of which sees him attempt to fix us with a sympathetic smile while drinking tea clumsily.

Memorable Scenes and Sentiments

Can anything top his skip-side groans? Absolutely not. His appearance is equally entertaining, with an implausibly light hair color, and his clothing showcasing loud pants, black-and-white pundit pumps, an arsenal of body warmers and over-the-top joy about style revivals.

Additionally, the theme offers peeks into his inner world that appeared under new creative guidance. Several times, it delivers poignant moments, where his blindness exposes pain that almost has us crying tears of emotion, 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.