The show is shot from the perspective of a webcam in the studio of fictional station 'North Norfolk Digital'. In Mid Morning Matters Alan Partridge is back working as a disc jockey, after the failure of his television career. He is usually joined by 'Sidekick Simon' who eventually leaves or is fired due to Alan's gradual dislike towards him. Alan is noticeably annoyed when he discovers that Simon has started guesting as a sidekick on another radio show. After Simon's departure, Alan recruits a new sidekick, Zoe, and quickly develops a crush on her. In the final part of series one, Zoe reveals she is going travelling for three months, much to Alan's disappointment. The episode ends with a shot through the window into the recording booth as Zoe hugs Alan and gives him a kiss on the cheek; there is no sound and it is unknown what Alan has said to warrant this reaction. This is a rare low-key ending to an Alan Partridge series with the high point coming in Episode 10 when Alan rebukes Sidekick Simon for his role in a practical joke on him.
Production and TV airing
In August 2010, it was reported that Alan Partridge would make a comeback series online for lager company Foster's. On 8 October 2010, it was announced that the new show, entitled Alan Partridge's Mid Morning Matters, would premiere on 5 November 2010 on Foster's comedy site, fostersfunny.co.uk. In a press release, Steve Coogan announced, in character:
"I am delighted to announce that after years as a regional broadcaster on North Norfolk Digital my groundbreaking radio segment, Mid Morning Matters, will now be accessible to a potential audience of billions via the World Wide Web.
That it has taken Foster's to help realise my dream of joining the information superhighway is a damning indictment of the established broadcasters whose shabby treatment of me on Sept 10th 2001 was frankly shabby. I made dozens of calls the next day, all of which were ignored.
My appreciation must go to Armando Iannucci and Baby Cow for ignoring the lies, God bless them. In the meantime I look forward to 'hanging out 'n' chillin' with the MySpace generation."
The first six episodes aired online in December 2010, with the remainder released weekly from 4 February 2011 until episode 12 on 11 March 2011. Following the series, Alan appeared again as part of the Red Nose Day 2011 set for a one-off show akin to the Mid Morning Matters arrangement, and here Side-kick Simon reappears in his former capacity. Following a deal between Baby Cow Productions and BSkyB in November 2011, the first series was broadcast as six 30-minute episodes on Sky Atlantic, despite the public antithapy of Steve Coogan towards media mogul Rupert Murdoch and his company 21st Century Fox, who own a controlling 33% of BSkyB, following the News International phone-hacking scandal. Series two of Mid Morning Matters began airing on Sky Atlantic on 16 February 2016. As with the first series on Sky, series two ran for six 30-minute episodes.
Reception
The Telegraph called the show "endlessly creative".
The first series of Mid Morning Matters was released on DVD first, in Australia on 1 March 2012 by 2entertain. It was released on 12 November2012 in the UK, also by 2entertain. The second series was released on DVD in April 2016.
