I was a little disappointed at first when I watched Alan Partridge's new series on Sky Atlantic, but for a while I couldn't work out why. Everything seemed to be in place, from the foot-in-mouth soundbites to Sidekick Simon to the terrible midde-aged clothes to the feeble attempts to appear down with the North Norfolk Digital kids.

Then I realised what the problem was. The Alpha Papa film was so brilliant at opening up Alan and giving him more space to breathe and make a sad twat of himself that suddenly this radio studio-based version doesn't work quite so well. I wanted Alan to be out on the road miming along to Roachford's Cuddly Toy, not quizzing posh foxhunter Sir Cecil Crooms-Phillips.

But eventually I got over my disappointment. For two reasons. Firstly the script, by Coogan and Neil and Rob Gibbons, is so finely honed. While the segments here sometimes feel like disconnected outtakes, due to the screen cutting sharply from one to the next, they are all brilliantly observed. I don't want to give any lines away as that would spoil the fun.

But the main reason why Partridge's TV return works is Coogan's performance. He might be confined to his studio, but the visuals don't actually matter that much when the voice works so well. Sometimes strangulated, sometimes petulant, sometimes pompous, sometimes like a little child. Often all in the same sentence. Never has one man conveyed so much twattery by tweaking the tone so little. In a way this would almost work as a radio programme in its own right.

Oh, and Tim Key as Sidekick Simon is great too, though what with his sly put-downs of his boss I do wonder if at some point Partridge might go postal and put a gun to Simon's head live on air. Sounds good. Sounds like the plot of a promising movie.

Mondays, 10pm, Sky Atlantic.

Pic: Baby Cow