Episode 2 of This Time with Alan Partridge was centred around the mourning of John Baskell.
Naturally, however, Alan leveraged the death of a co-star to shift the attention onto himself.
He twisted and turned the tragic news so it became a highlight reel of his own presenting skills while attempting to taint the audience’s view of a so-called “beloved TV presenter”.
So who is John Baskell? Is he real? And was the character based on someone?
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Is John Baskell Real?
No!
John Baskell is not real.
The actor who plays John is 68-year-old Peter Wright. He has appeared in countless films and TV series across the years, playing barkeep Roy Porter in 2007 Brit-classic Hot Fuzz.
Yeah Roy!
Peter has also appeared in mini-series such as Our Zoo, The Mimic, The Paradise and has a colossal 144 IMDB credits to his name.
He’s even popped up in episodes of Eastenders, Casualty and Holby City!
Who is John Baskell?
The John Baskell character is a supposed long-standing TV presenter on BBC’s This Time.
Alan Partridge stands-in for the beloved John in episode 1 as he is supposedly ill.
However, things take a turn for the worse when John (1953-2019) passes away before episode 2. This leaves Alan to combine a sombre eulogy with his own pitch on why he should get the role full-time.
AS Tweets sweep in accusing John of sexual misconduct – very on topic from the BBC – Alan does his best to highlight this and useS the news to disgrace John’s reputation while highlighting his own stellar legacy.
While John’s character is not specifically based on anyone, he is a representation of current affairs and the issues that surround sexual harassment in the workplace.
Alan Partridge: This Time – Episode 3
Clearly – and miraculously – Alan gets the job on the This Time for the remainder of the series.
You can continue to watch Alan in action for another four episodes as This Time continue to air on BBC One at 9:30 pm, every Monday night until April 1st.
WATCH THIS TIME WITH ALAN PARTRIDGE ON BBC ONE EVERY MONDAY NIGHT
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