Local campaign pays off

The new Alan Partridge film Alpha Papa is to have its world premiere in Norwich, following an online campaign from locals.

It was today announced that Steve Coogan will attend a screening in character on the afternoon of July 24 – before boarding a helicopter to the London premiere in Leicester Square. 

In a statement, Partridge said: ‘You can imagine how hurt and litigious I felt when people said I was planning to debut my movie in London instead of Norwich, or that I'd allowed my head to be turned by the prospect of big city fame.

‘Any suggestion I've hastily cobbled together the lunchtime Norwich screening in response to a local Twitter campaign will be met with the full force of the law.’

Around 7,000 people ‘liked’ a Facebook page demanding Coogan’s character stay true to his East Anglian roots with a Norwich premiere. Partridge's co-creator Armando Iannucci called the campaign ‘the Norwich Spring’.

Scenes from the movie were filmed in The Forum and City Hall in the city, as well as nearby Cromer Pier and Sheringham town centre.

The film will be out on general release on August 7.

Meanwhile, a graffiti mural featuring Partridge has been painted on to a wall of the Anglia Square shopping centre in Norwich.

Published: 8 Jul 2013