I'm Alan Partridge. Aha! Bio, Quotes & Video

Alan Partridge was born on April 2, 1955, in the town of King's Lynn, in the English county of Norfolk. He grew up in Norwich, the city with which he was to become forever associated. He bravely overcame the childhood taunts of "Smelly Alan Fartridge!" to begin a career as a hospital radio DJ and presenter, later joining Radio Norwich and BBC Radio 4. In 1995, he launched his TV career with his weekly chat show Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge, which lasted just one series.

Rejected by the BBC, Partridge tried his hand at a succession of independent media enterprises, through his company Pear Tree Productions, all of which sadly failed. His decline was witnessed first-hand in the 1997 TV series I'm Alan Partridge, which documented his lonely existence in a roadside Travel Tavern. Following this, he suffered severe chocolate addiction and a nervous breakdown, during which he infamously drove to Dundee in his bare feet, having consumed several bars of Toblerone. A second series, in 2002, revealed he was "Bouncing Back" (the title of his new autobiography). He can still regularly be seen making guest appearances at live events and on TV and radio.

Alan Partridge is the comic creation of Lancashire-born comedian and actor Steve Coogan. Although he's enjoyed the most success with Partridge, he has several other characters to his name, including the rather drunk and disorderly Paul and Pauline Calf, middle-aged rocker and pest control specialist Tommy Saxondale, and Dr Terrible, presenter of the Hammer horror spoof TV series Dr Terrible's House of Horrible.

Butter my arse! (Alan expresses frustration.)

I know lying is wrong, but if the elephant man came in now in a blouse with some makeup on and said, "How do i look?", would you say, "Go and take that blusher off you misshapen elephant tranny!" or would you say," You look nice... John"? (Alan educates secretary Lynn in the ethics of lying.)

Lynn's not my wife. She's my PA. Hard worker, but there's no affection. (Alan quickly dispels the misconception that his secretary is his wife.)

I do like that toilet. It's very futuristic, isn't it? Very sort of high-tech, space age. I can imagine Buck Rogers taking a dump on that. In the twenty-first century. Can I have a go? (Alan shows his enthusiasm for the bathroom while touring a new property. He later describes said utility as a "Buck Rogers toilet. One yank--gone!")

My girlfriend is 14 years younger than me. Cash back! (Alan boasts about his Ukrainian girlfriend, Sonja.)

Lynn, you couldn't present a... cat! (Alan passes judgment on Lynn's public speaking skills.)

How long did you put that in for, Lynn? It's hotter than the sun! (Alan burns his mouth on a microwave-heated apple pie.)

All those people who go round saying, "Life begins at forty." They're notable by their absence. The nerve. (Alan offers words of comfort to a widow, whose husband passed away at the age of 40.)

Sunday Bloody Sunday. What a great song. It really encapsulates the frustration of a Sunday, doesn't it? You wake up in the morning, you've got to read all the Sunday papers, the kids are running round, you've got to mow the lawn, wash the car, and you just think, Sunday, bloody Sunday! (Alan tries to impress two Irishmen with his love of the band U2.)

They're only the band The Beatles could have been. (Alan introduces the band Wings to hotel attendant Ben.)

Tough one. I think I'd have to say The Best of The Beatles. (Alan tells said attendant his favourite Beatles album.)

Sir Dansworth of Moodyshire, as I live and breathe. (Alan answers the phone to his new best friend, kitchen salesman Dan Moody.)

Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan! Oh, he's not seen me. I'll get him later... Dan! (Alan shouts across a car park, increasingly loudly, to get Dan's attention. And fails.)

Mind you, if you’ve been to Knowsley Safari Park, and they’re pulling the wipers off your windscreen and nicking your hub caps, you lose sympathy. (Alan describes his feelings about monkeys.)

Oh God, no, no. I'm old enough to be her father. Well, her older brother. Either way it's incest. (Alan denies sending a Valentine card to 20-something hotel receptionist Sophie.)