Changes: Knowing Me, Knowing Yule

Latest revision as of 15:56, 27 July 2020

Knowing Me, Knowing Yule, or Knowing Me, Knowing Yule with Alan Partridge, is the 1995 Christmas special of spoof TV chat show Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge, hosted by Steve Coogan as Alan Partridge.

Plot

Alan Partridge hosts a Yuletide special edition of his chat show from a mock-up of his living room. After introducing the guests, Alan sits down with new BBC Chief Commissioning Editor Tony Hayers and asks repeatedly for a second series of Knowing Me, Knowing You. Rover salesman Mike Taylor arrives dressed as Father Christmas, and he and Partridge have a protacted discussion about the specifications of the Rover Vitesse Fastback to advertise the model. Alan plays a video entitled "Christmas in Norwich with Alan Partridge", where he describes his life in his home city. Hayers discusses the ethics of product placement, considering it a "severe breach of contract" as "Father Christmas" gifts him a toy Rover. Partridge invites golfing couple Gordon and Liz Heron to what appears to be a mock-up drawing room for a classic chat show segment, then introduces the "biggest Christmas cracker in the world", built by White City Pyrotechnics, containing a kidney dialysis machine bound for Norwich Children's Hospital. When the Royal Plymouth Sea Cadets attempt to pull the cracker, it catches fire, rendering the "largest Christmas cracker" record unbroken. Alan reveals that the dialysis machine has to be sent back to the suppliers, then performs a rendition of The Twelve Days of Christmas with the abandoned Christmas cracker prop still in the middle of the set. With two turle doves suspended in the air above the cracker, he cancels the musical number. On-set entertainer/chef Fanny Thomas instructs Partridge to stuff a roast turkey whilst making a series of relentless innuendos. Gordon makes fun of him, and, in retaliation, Alan punches him and Tony in the face with the turkey still on his hand. Hayers proclaims to Partridge: "I'm going to make sure you never, never work on television again".

Format

Much like its parent show, Knowing Me, Knowing Yule was a chat show with a roster of guests. Unlike Knowing Me, Knowing You, this special episode also included additional segments, such as the VT section and the impromptu "breakfast bar chat", as well as additional locations in the studio, such as the kitchen and the drawing room seen in the Gordon and Liz Heron interview.

Credits

Cast

Alan Partridge - Steve Coogan
Mary - Rebecca Front
Peter Willis - Kevin Eldon
Tony Hayers - David Schneider
Liz Heron - Doon MacKichan
Gordon Heron - Patrick Marber
Glenn Ponder - Steve Brown
Mick Hucknall - Himself
Andy - Tom Binns
Mike Taylor - Carl Forgione
Alun - Alan Francis

Crew

Musical Director - Steve Brown
Choreographer - Jo Robley Dixon
Written by - Steve Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Patrick Marber
Producer - Armando Iannucci
Director - Dominic Brigstocke
Head of Production - Sally Debonnaire
Executive Producer - Peter Fincham
Production Manager - Alison McPhail
Casting Director - Susie Gautier-Smith
Production Assistant - Pamela Wylde
Production Accountant - Penny Anderson
Producer's Assistant - Samantha Taylor
Production Team - Jim Imber, Darrin Nightingale
Stage Manager - Jane Denholm
Floor Manager - Mike Morgan
Production Designer - Dennis de Groot
Art Director - Jo Sutherland
Production Buyer - Terry Black
Props Master - Peter Hallam
Stand by Props - Paul Stamp
Special Effects - Steve Webster
Scenehand - Brain Bassett
Costume Designer - Marcia Stanton
Costume Assistant - Inca Bayer
Make-up/Hair Design - Lisa Cavalli-Green
Camera Supervisor - Chas Watts
Vision Mixer - Paul Wheeler
Cameras - Ray Gearing, Alison Chapman, Mark Jerome, Ron Green
Crane Operators - Jim Sloss, Tony Newman
Camera Assistants - Angie Thomas, Harriet Sheard
Lighting Director - Mike Sutcliffe
Vision Control - Andy Newton
Console Operator - Paul Barlow
VT Operators - Bryan Wall, Andrew Denyer
Chargehand Electrician - George Hammond
Electricians - Clive Sait, Bob Thornton
Location Camera - Steve Albins
Location Camera Assistant - Crispin Kyle
Location Sound - Doug Urquhart
Location Electrician - Nick Collier
Sound Supervisor - Chas Braithwaite
Sound Mixer - Dave Evans
Sound Crew - Phil Coleman, Ron Newton, Mick Beauchamp, Jim Noble
Dubbing Mixer - Tim Alban
Offline Editors - Nick Arthurs, Adam de Wolff
Online Editor - Steve Murray
Graphics - Richard Norley, Russell Hilliard

Additional credits

George Peck, King's College School, Wimbledon
The Brighton Bottle Orchestra
The Irene Hayes School of Dance
The Sea Cadet Association

DVD credits

Producer - Adam Tandy
Production Co-ordinator - Cathy McLoughlin
Offline Editor - James Cooper
Commentary Recording - Luca Buttari
Dubbing Editor - Graeme Stoten
Post-production - Framestore CFC
Graphic Design - Adam Parry
Graphic Artists - Sharon Lock, Ben Cronin
Encoding and Authoring - Stuart Gilbert
Producer - Simon Whalley

Trivia

Knowing Me, Knowing Yule was broadcast on the same day as TV short Alan Partridge's Country Ramble. It is likely that the latter was a deleted scene from "Christmas in Norwich with Alan Partridge".

@@ Line 22: / Line 22: @@
 *Written by - Steve Coogan, [[Armando Iannucci]], Patrick Marber
 *Producer - Armando Iannucci
-*Director - Dominic Brigstocke
+*Director - [[Dominic Brigstocke]]
 *Head of Production - Sally Debonnaire
 *Executive Producer - Peter Fincham