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TWITTER WAS AWASH with people predicting a furious response to the airing of republican anthems like The Men Behind the Wire on an episode of the latest Alan Partridge series last night.
Fast forward to this afternoon though, and we’re still awaiting any substantial fury.
So far, the most noteworthy tweet on the affair has come from an Ian Paisley parody account (above) known for its regular satirical DUP-esque posts about, for instance, ‘Londonderry Girls’.
If you haven’t caught it yet and are wondering what all the fuss is about, the sequence in question plays out at the end of the show Partridge is presenting. An Irish farmer/folk singer, also played by Partridge creator Steve Coogan, hijacks the remaining airtime and proceeds to belt out an unrelenting medley of increasingly controversial ballads.
The initial social media response may have simply been a kind of instinctual shock response at the fact that a song like Men Behind the Wire – written in the aftermath of internment in the early 1970s – was being sung on primetime BBC.
Cllr Sarah Holland / TwitterThe fella who rang the cops for Tommy Tiernan will be losing it right now. https://t.co/GviFTP5V3c
— Sarah Holland (@SJTHolland) March 18, 2019
‘More to Ireland den dis’
Respondents to those initial tweets were quick to point out that Coogan has Irish roots, and a pretty spot-on record in terms of his handling of matters pertaining to Ireland.
His best known creation – an unimaginably inept TV presenter who, in this latest series, has made an inexplicable return to the Beeb to co-present an inane daytime magazine show – never seems to fare particularly well in encounters with the Irish, but the joke is always on Partridge.
Fans of the character will remember how, in a former incarnation, the hapless host had an equally cringeworthy run in with a pair of Irish TV producers – played by Father Ted creators Graham Linehan and Arthur Mathews – who were considering hiring him for a fresh, modern show about a changing Ireland. (Sample Alan quotes: “A good slogan for the tourist board… Dere’s more to Ireland den dis.”, “Could we come live from the Blarney Stone?”).
Partridge’s sole cinema outing, Alpha Papa, also features a disgruntled Irish radio host played by Colm Meaney who stages a siege at a Norwich radio station.
Speaking at the time, Coogan said:
“I’m half Irish and Alan does make all sorts of Irish references. I spent nearly every summer of my life growing up in the west of Ireland and I’m very familiar with Mayo and Cork and west Cork.
A lot of the humour I do as Alan is British prejudice against the Irish which can sound just like jokes against the Irish but it has to be put into the context of Alan’s ignorance which is why we get away with it. Also, the director of Alpha Papa is Irish.
Bearing in mind the adage that analysing comedy is akin to dissecting a frog (nobody laughs and the frog dies), it’s the main character’s unease with, frankly, anything that upends his middle-of-the-road, middle England sensibility that prompts the laughs in Partridge projects.
BBC Talkback / TwitterWhat did you make of Alan Partridge's doppelgänger Martin Brennan last night on BBC1? Who, precisely, was Steve Coogan poking fun at last night - and where should the line be drawn for what's acceptable and what's not in comedy? pic.twitter.com/uOMIiaT3qU
— BBC Talkback (@BBCTalkback) March 19, 2019
As one response to this tweet (above) from BBC Radio Ulster’s main phone-in show put it:
Terrific comedy. Steve Coogan and his team of writers are superb. Can’t understand why this is controversial. It’s called satire.
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A good rule of thumb is if it upsets the DUP it’s probably a winner.
@Keniby: IRA were terrorists and so were the Black n Tans.
@Keniby: it’s a parody account tho. No one was upset.
@SFNutters: I wouldn’t consider the IRA of my grandparents time as terrorists. They were freedom fighters fighting against terrorist. The new IRA was originally motivated by shocking human rights abuses in Northern Ireland at the hands of the unionists. They definitely lost sight of what they were supposed to be fighting for. The British called Nelson Mandela a terrorist while general Pinochet was their friend.
@Manbackonboard: The DUP supported the apartheid regime in South Africa. In fact the South African government at the time held the belief in the 1960s that they couldn’t treat their black population as bad as the Unionists were treating the Nationalists.
@Manbackonboard: bravo. All my family were in the old IRA. Brave men and women.
Alan Partridge you legend that was comedy gold and I’m a proud Irish man. Snowflakes go back under the bed.
Possibly the best ever 1min40secs of partridge ever and that’s saying something
@Jembocol: the audio version of his book is wonderful
I thought it was very funny. People are very easily offended these days.
@Damo.f: who was offended??
@Fozz: The DUPey people
@Cal Mooney: I’m amazed that they haven’t objected to the Brady family ham ad.
@Cal Mooney: Feck them.There offended if there not offended.
I had to double check I was watching it on BBC last night, i certainly wasn’t expecting that, I cried laughing…
It’s good to see Coogan pushing the boundaries in an era when people try to find offence in everything. He’s always been good at sticking to what he feels is well written content, and ignoring social norms. It’s paying off.
He does a decent Irish accent in fairness to him, he’s got a few in the bag i hear.
@SPQH: Not a lot of people know that “Steve Coogan” is actually a former farmer from just outside Castlebar who took up acting…
Brilliant stuff from Coogan. Watched the black and tans part about ten times, its funnier each time
in the tv show where Alan Partridge lives in the travel lodge hotel he says to the camera that he booked a meeting room under the name “real IRA “ &he jokes that the hotel staff never listen or take notice of stuff like that. ..the camera follows him into reception which is swarming with cops &he quickly turns around &runs for it
Alan Partridge was comedy Gold. That episode was hilarious & the boys from Father Ted had no problem going along with the story line.
That Ian Paisley account, and the only one in the article expressing outrage, and so the entire point of the story, is a parody, didn’t you read the bio?
@Fenster: did you read the article?
@IanPaisleyMP is a parody account, according to the bio.
“DUP Member of Parliament, husband, father and one of God’s children. I’ve had more free holidays than Judith Chalmers. Parody Account of course.”
@Brian Lilly: Well done you.
Northern Unionists who suffer from chronic Alamo Syndrome will find this very upsetting, resulting in apoplectic rage.
Derry Girls probably had their ears steaming (in a DUPey accent crying that it should be called ‘LondonDerry girls’ .. this one … heeeeee heeee. Nearly as good as Vradkar wearing his name sash upside down in Chicago on Sunday. I love the Irish.
Brilliant episode. He started into Sweet 16 by the Fuerys and then launched into Black & Tans. Ah man I’m still smiling. This season has been great, some of his best stuff yet.
Wow. Poor journalism from a poor journalist. Linking a tweet from a fake twitter account at the top of the article. Only explaining its a parody account in the article where people might not read it.
@Fr.Todd Unctious: If people choose to not read the article then how is the journal to blame.
@Ed: Prime example of modern online media outlets trying to stir it and alert the pc brigade.
@Fr.Todd Unctious: Is that you Ian?
Lovely stuff. Not my words, the words of Shakin Stevens.
First class, somes up every sing song in a pub. Comedy gold. Even better D4 tv wouldn’t show anything like that in a fit.
One of the funniest things I’ve ever seen. Pure comic genius. The CPR scene was hilarious too.
Prime example of modern online media outlets such as this one trying to stir it and alert the pc brigade.
I’ve no time for the man whatsoever but now the Journal are quoting from parody accounts?
@High Tower: Let me guess, you really are the 7ft tall black guy from Police academy.
@Cal Mooney: Oh look Chemical Cali’s showed up. Let me guess, that wasn’t Mary Lou behind that banner but an MI5 agent pretending to be her. Your posts are the funniest thing about the Journal, keep them coming Cali
@High Tower: did you not die in 2011?
@High Tower: The article writer did not make that parody account. That account has existed on Twitter for some time
Said Ian Og from his holiday home in the Seychelles!
Love that guy
Really, really not a Partridge fan but thought last night was genius. I was reared on these tunes and was stunned when I heard The Black and Tans before bursting into hysterics. Ya can’t even sing these in your local anymore without hearing tut’s from sneering faces. Well done Steve Coogan
I’m not a fan of that Coogan fella but I love that guy Alan Partridge…..now he’s funny.
Best parody was him being an Irish guy playing an Irish guy impersonating an English guy in mooneboy, check YouTube for it. Hilarious
DUP can never just be plain mad angry .. incandescent ! .. now he’s a neon orange man ..lol
The very darkest and often funniest of them all
That Ian Paisley account is a parody account .. (although he probably thought it)
@Órla Nic An Tuile: Not unless he thought there was a free all expenses holiday associated with it
Come out you other hams…
Paisley jr
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