This Time With Alan Partridge's Susannah Fielding on the show's return
This Time With Alan Partridge is back on our screens on the BBC - with the scene-stealing Susannah Fielding at the helm once again with Alan Partridge himself.
She stars alongside Steve Coogan's Alan as co-host Jennie Gresham on This Time, the TV show within a show. Her character Jennie is truly unflappable, cut from the same cloth as those who deftly handle their presenting duties: the Willoughbys and the Reids of the mid-morning TV landscape.
As the comedy returns to BBC One, we spoke to Susannah about the new series, going backstage on The One Show, and her dreams to follow in the footsteps of Nicola Walker in Unforgotten...
What can we expect in series two? At the end of the first series, I think we weren't sure whether Jennie, Alan or or both of them might leave or be fired. It was a bit of a cliffhanger. This time, we get to learn a little bit more about their personal lives - Jennie's, in particular. We learn more about her less professional side. Of course, there are many more brilliant Alan-isms.
On a scale of one to 10, how much are Jennie and Alan still antagonising each other? I think they've got to know each other a bit better, so they probably know how to play each other slightly more cleverly now. Jen's been on the show for a long time and so she's gained a little bit more power and I think Alan is wondering if he's still relevant. We have a new producer coming in on the This Time set, so that really kind of puts the wind up him. There's a real sense of will we keep our jobs, which adds some kind of great jeopardy too.
What did you enjoy most about your return to the This Time sofa? The camaraderie was slightly sort of impinged upon by covid rules, but it was great to get back and explore that character again. I think we were quite lucky because it was one of the only things we could film as it didn't involve anyone going abroad, or it didn't involve big crowd scenes, it was just me and Steve.
We’re already next to each other and all our guests are two metres away anyway, so it was quite a good fit for the timing. I was just thrilled to get another stab at seeing what more was in that relationship.
You starred in Mike Barlett’s Life last year - it was a very different role from Jennie. Do you prefer comedy or drama? I love doing both. Fingers crossed, that's the aim really, that I'll be able to continue doing drama, comedy, theatre, radio and all of it because each different thing that you do helps you strengthen a certain area or tests you in a different way. I mean, ultimately, doing comedy - and hard work as it can sometimes be - getting paid to laugh and make other people laugh is a wonderful way to make a living, so I'd be very happy to continue doing that.
Working with comedy icons like Felicity Montagu, Lolly Adefope, and now Natasia Demetriou on the show, how does it feel to be part of such a strong female comedy moment? I feel like genuinely in British comedy, there's a real shift. When I first started working in the industry, I was often the only girl in a room of boys and men, and my role was often just to stand there and be ‘eye rolling girlfriend’. I didn't really get many of the jokes myself.
What's wonderful is that I don't think you can get away with that any more, and the more brilliantly funny women we see on our screens, the more and more that won't be allowed to happen. It does feel like we're at an exciting point. Who knows, maybe if This Time had been on five or 10 years ago, maybe Jennie kind of wouldn't have been such a three dimensional and interesting character. She may have just been tits and teeth, so I consider myself lucky to be working at this point in time.
How much daytime TV did you watch to prepare for the role? It's a really specific tone and a really specific way of presenting, so it was absolutely paramount that we got that right. I went to watch The One Show in person, which was really helpful. I was able to get a sense of what they're doing when the viewer at home is watching a clip of something else. You as an audience member get to see what they do while that’s on. They're having their coffee and a banana and chatting to the guy next to them.
That was really useful because I had misread that, and thought that they must be quite nervous and focused, and worrying about what was coming next, but they're so relaxed! It literally is just being able to switch it on and off and back on again and seeing that ended up being a real gift.
Were you ever anxious about bumping into daytime magazine show presenters after the first series aired? I think my hope was that they would think that I've done an accurate job! I have the greatest respect for what they do, because it really is tapping your head and rubbing your tummy, because there's so many plates spinning all at the same time. I think Susanna Reid said something complimentary on Twitter after the first series came out, which was a relief...
The new series is going to lift a lot of people’s spirits. Are you proud to be part of that? I have friends who are policemen and nurses, and who work for charities, and I often think that maybe I should be doing something like that with my life and making a difference in a very real way. But then sometimes you get to do a show where you know people really get a lot out of it and it really lifts people's spirits - and at a time they really need it.
What shows lifted your spirits in lockdown? I'm slightly embarrassed to say that Married at First Sight Australia took up a good few hours of my life. We all needed a bit of kind of brain numbing stuff, didn't we? But that was very entertaining. I really enjoyed Unforgotten with Nicola Walker, which was a fantastic series. And of course Line of Duty.
Which other comedy series do you rate? This Country and Stath Lets Flats are absolutely brilliant. That's just my sort of thing. Mum is amazing too. I do think we're in a golden age of really good British comedy.
Your dream role - what would it be? I’d really like to play a detective. I think a role where you get to be an intelligent, powerful career woman and lead the show. Something like Silent Witness or Unforgotten. That really appeals to me.
What else do you have coming up this year? I’m doing another comedy series which I start filming in six weeks. In the meantime, though, before I start work, I am enjoying sunshine and doing DIY, cooking and gardening. Basically, I'm leading the life of a retiree and I’m loving it.
This Time with Alan Partridge returns to BBC One at 9:30pm on Friday 30th April, and on BBC iPlayer.
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