PICK OF THE DAY

THIS TIME WITH ALAN PARTRIDGE, 9.30PM, BBC1

STEVE COOGAN has been playing Alan Partridge since 1991, and there can’t be an inch of the character he doesn’t know inside out. This perfectly performed new series, Coogan’s first on the BBC since 2014, also finds Alan back on the Beeb — filling in on a One Show-style series with a slick female co-host who subtly undercuts him (Susannah Fielding, pictured with Coogan). Alan doesn’t understand women and embarrasses himself in front of a parade of them here, including a hygiene expert named Jean (‘Hi, Jean’) and Newsnight’s Emily Maitlis.