´óÏó´«Ã½

´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide has licensed a new Steve Coogan comedy programme, Alan Partridge's Mid-Morning Matters, along with a host of other favourite Steve Coogan and ´óÏó´«Ã½ comedy titles as part of a recently concluded deal with FOXTEL's The Comedy Channel.

Delivering over 40 hours of laughs, this deal will see Steve Coogan's best-loved comedy creation return to Australian television screens with the premier series 1 and 2 of Alan Partridge's Mid-Morning Matters (Series 1 6x25-minute, Series 2 6x25-minute; A Baby Cow Production) on The Comedy Channel early in 2012.

After an eight-year absence, Alan Partridge is back and his star has fallen even further as he hosts daytime radio show Mid-Morning Matters, an all-new platform for his trademark mix of banality, wincingly tasteless comments and disturbing insights.

Both series stem from the phenomenally successful online short programme, which launched last year.

"Steve Coogan's Alan Partridge is an icon of comedy and it's great to have him back. This package for The Comedy Channel is British comedy at its best, with Steve Coogan at the heart of it," commented Irene Read, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide Australia's Sales Manager, Subscription Television.

"The Comedy Channel is delighted with the Steve Coogan titles acquired from ´óÏó´«Ã½ Worldwide and look forward to bringing these programmes to our audiences in the new year," added Fleur Fahey, GM Acquisitions, FOXTEL Channels Group.

Enduring Steve Coogan comedy series Coogan's Run (6x30-minutes, A Pozzitive Television production for ´óÏó´«Ã½ Television), Saxondale series 1 and 2 (Series 1 7x30-minute, Series 2 6x30-minute, A Baby Cow production) and specials including Steve Coogan As Alan Partridge And Other Less Successful Characters (1x90-minute, A Baby Cow production), Steve Coogan – The Inside Story (1x60-minute, A Pett/Baby Cow production for ´óÏó´«Ã½) and Steve Coogan – The Man Who Thinks He's It (1x90-minute, A Baby Cow production) also feature as part of the package.

Other ´óÏó´«Ã½ comedy titles include: Alan Carr: Tooth Fairy (1x60-minute, An Open Mike production); Red Dwarf series 1, 2, 7 and 8 (Series 1 6x30-minute, Series 2 6x30-minute, A Paul Jackson production for ´óÏó´«Ã½ North, Series 7 8x30-minute, Series 8 8x30-minute, A Grant/Naylor Production for ´óÏó´«Ã½); and 2009 special Red Dwarf – Back To Earth (4x30-minute, A Grant Naylor production for ´óÏó´«Ã½).

Laura Dumbrell/Fiona Bickerstaff