This Time with Alan Partridge

Are you sure about that? Seems to me that series 2 is just as well regarded as the first. The only viewers it didn't 'go down well with' were the ones that forgot the earier series had a laugh track.

It's certainly nothing to do with the next few Partridge projects not being on the BBC (the next one was though, in 2003) the character took a hiatus for a while as Coogan etcs careers all took off elsewhere,and he says that he fell out of love of the character until the new writers came along and revitalised it.

I always thought that Coogan was uneasy with the Sky association, but that was at a time when they were ramping up the British content and investing heavily in comedy, which the BBC weren't. The AP film was from BBC Films though

Apparently the BBC was offered Mid Morning Matters, but didn’t want to show it after it had premiered online in a tie-up with Fosters. So it was a case of ‘If you don’t take it, Sky will’.

One episode of the first series was effectively all on location IIRC, the one with the obsessed fan (though I suppose those interiors were studio) and then the stuff filmed outside Television Centre, in the car and whatever else. I presume the scenes of the radio station were studio as well.

It's not immediately obvious what's studio and what's on location largely due to the fact that even the studio filming used handheld cameras. Obviously the sets and lighting were brilliant too.

I remember hearing (possibly on the DVD commentary?) that the scene of Alan and Tony Hayers walking into the BBC restaurant was location, but the part when they were sat at the table was studio, with the set designed to match. On screen, it appears almost seamless.

I thought they went with Sky because they gave them full creative control, which the BBC said they wouldn’t give them.

I must admit I’d thought until now it was all ‘non studio’ shot ! The radio studio shots are not in a real radio station, I’d assumed they had just assembled a load of audio kit in a large room. All credit to the set builders !

I remember hearing (possibly on the DVD commentary?) that the scene of Alan and Tony Hayers walking into the BBC restaurant was location, but the part when they were sat at the table was studio, with the set designed to match. On screen, it appears almost seamless.

The radio studio shots are not in a real radio station, I’d assumed they had just assembled a load of audio kit in a large room. All credit to the set builders !