Alan Partridge

Steve Coogan (The Reckoning) stars as Walden, and Harriet Walter (Succession) as Thatcher. Walden was respected and feared in equal measure for his take-no-prisoners approach to interviews. Thatcher – hardly a teddy bear herself – was reputed to enjoy their sparring matches. That is, until the Prime Minister was coming to the end of her political career. The pair’s tense 1989 clash destroyed their friendship, and the two supposedly never spoke again.

He has topped an illustrious career in news, chat and daytime shows, not to mention his stint on North Norfolk Digital Radio, with the conquest of a new broadcasting bastion: the podcast.

What he once assumed was the domain of “pale, tech-obsessed social lepers who couldn’t get a platform on any meaningful broadcaster” has become his creative audio kingdom.

Speaking on Radio 2, Coogan announced that the second series will air “in the next 12 months.”

Produced by Coogan’s own indie company, Baby Cow, the series premiered in February last year, with the antics of the inept presenter spoofing the magazine format as co-host of This Time (see: The One Show).

Susannah Fielding also starred as co-host Jennie Gresham, while Tim Key and Felicity Montagu reprised their roles as sidekick Simon Denton and Partridge’s loyal yet neglected PA Lynn Benfield respectively.

Director of BBC Content, Charlotte Moore announced a range of new commissions at the EITF from the BBC.

She said: "The new commissions I’m announcing today are examples of the range and ambition audiences can expect from the channel as we continue to challenge what mainstream television can do and connect with a diverse modern Britain."

Alan Partridge

BBC Two will broadcast a 25th anniversary special this year, marking 25 years since Alan Partridge's debut on BBC Radio back in 1992 and a BBC One series will follow in 2018.

In an attempt to make amends following a controversial on-air incident, the radio DJ will leave behind his life of luxury to visit the areas inhabited by the people he has offended, from supermarket staff to payday lenders.

Partridge will move among them in a bid to become what Sky has called “a better citizen, a better man and a better, more sought-after broadcaster.”

Along the way, he will ask whether a ‘schasm’ has formed – somewhere between a schism and a chasm – between the country’s ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’.

From classic comedies such as Only Fools and Horses, to new favourites Celebrity Juice and Peep Show, it's clear that we all enjoy indulging in a good bit of telly during the holidays.

By many people's reckoning, Armando Iannucci is one of our greatest and funniest TV satirists. The political classes and the grammar and conceits of television have proved fertile ground for Iannucci's wit and his team of gifted collaborators, notably Steve Coogan, Rebecca Front and Chris Morris.

Everyone knows that BBC drama is either near or at the top of its game. But what of BBC Films, the broadcaster's infinitely poorer and sometimes neglected cousin?

For the past six years, BBC Films has been led by Christine Langan, a one-time Granada script editor who went on to win acclaim within ITV and beyond.

Will television eat itself? A flat screen might be easier to get down than a cathode-ray tube, and cause less indigestion – but, still, it doesn't really sound like a sensible diet.

All trades and professions are fascinated with themselves and like nothing more than talking endlessly about their own work. The TV industry is no different. In it's case, making telly about telly is proving increasingly irresistible.

We are all a bit too wised-up to dream about "the magic of television" any more. The schedules struggle to hold our attention.

Armando Iannucci, best known for creating hit political comedies The Thick of It and Veep, began his comedy career while at university, appearing in two revues at the Edinburgh Fringe.

He entered working life at the BBC where he served as a radio producer on shows such as Just a Minute and Week Ending.

It was here that he met the likes of Chris Morris, Steve Coogan and Rebecca Front, creating On the Hour, a satirical show that parodied news broadcasting and where Coogan debuted his notorious Alan Partridge character.