Steve Coogan’s first tour in a very long time sees the comic master bringing back Alan Partridge, Paul and Pauling Calf and other (less successful) characters, as the name of the tour suggests.

He’s glad to be back on stage it seems after years of television and movies, but what of the former TV Sports presenter and host of his own chat show - Alan Partridge?

Alan has definitely been updated for this show - he’s had a kind of makeover. So he dresses completely differently now. He’s gone through a sort of a psychological crisis and his part of the show is as a lifestyle coach.

He coaches the audience in how to to turn their lives around. I think he thinks he’s a lot trendier than he was but, of course, he’s not.

Where else could Coogan have taken Alan Partridge? “Alan Partridge - Lifestyle Coach” has that typical Partridge self-delusion written all over it! So what does Steve - who has been lucky enough to star in a film alongside Jackie Chan and headline a BBC One drama - have in store for Alan Partridge in future, and will he back on TV?

I have mixed feelings. I like doing other stuff. It’s very gratifying to me when I get a good reaction to stuff which is different. I did a BBC series called Sunshine recently that got an incredible reaction.

And that’s gratifying to me because it’s something which is not what I’m generally known for.

The more that that happens, the more I get endorsements for other things, especially work in America.

The more I do that, the more likely I am to come back and do something with Alan because then it becomes something I do because I want to, not because I have to.

I’ve got plenty of ideas of what I might do with him but I’m keeping them on the backburner until I decide what I should do.

And also because he’s well liked I can’t just rush something out. If I was going to do something it would have to be properly thought through.

It’s good to see that Coogan thinks so highly of his most famous creation. Although I always thought Saxondale was pretty funny…

Incidentally, Coogan was also asked how he felt about the possibility of being the star of Doctor Who…

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