Alan Partridge to travel UK in TED talk-style stadium tour

Think the Scissored Isle sequel but on stage, with 'solutions' to big, national issues, and venturing beyond the North

Alan Partridge returned to screens with series two of This Time just under a month ago and suddenly we remembered how deliciously uncomfortable the iconic comedy character makes us. He's simply too cumbersome and bumblingly British even for us. Thankfully, we won't have to wait too long before his next appearance as Steve Coogan has announced a new live show that looks to put a slant on the TED-talk lecture. In traditional pretentious fashion, it is simply called 'Strategem'. A word which he repeats numerous times throughout the trailer to the point where it no longer sounds like a word. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KtatC06xds&t=21s The onomatopoeic oratory and emphatic delivery: that was... liquid wordplay! The caption under the YouTube trailer reads as follows: "Over a multi-decade broadcasting career, this wonderful and surprisingly well-read man has brought delight to millions. And now, in a country riven with discord and disease, Alan is touring the country with a message of hope". You can't argue with some of his logic though, as he muses that "what really binds us as a nation is when we all of us, together, can't stand something, like speed bumps or anything changing" - he's gone Britain bang on, there. The official description for the show details that “Alan will be touring the UK wearing a head-mic favoured by TED talkers, market hawkers, TV evangelists, backing singers and carnival barkers", as hope to use us to help him "put the U back in United Kingdom". The tour starts in 2022 and you can watch him on the following dates at the assigned venus:

• April 29 – Utilita Arena Birmingham
• April 30 – Sheffield Arena
• May 4 – Utilita Arena, Newcastle
• May 11 – M&S Bank Arena, Liverpool
• May 12 – AO Arena, Manchester
• May 19 – Motorpoint Arena, Cardiff
• May 27 – P&J Live, Aberdeen
• May 28 – First Direct Arena, Leeds
• May 31 – The O2, London