He made his name on the airwaves through Radio Norwich, North Norfolk Digital and, latterly, Shape and has had several flirtations with television.

It was therefore inevitable that Alan Partridge would eventually branch out into the world of podcasting.

And this is exactly what Norwich’s most famous fictional son will be doing when Steve Coogan reprises his timeless character for an 18-part podcast series.

Recorded inside Alan’s shed - in an undisclosed Norwich location - From The Oasthouse: The Alan Partridge Podcast will launch at the beginning of September.

The This Time host said: “If David Dimbleby has one [a podcast] then of course I needed one. All national treasures have a podcast.

“With this series, I want to give my fans an intimate view of who I am. You may think you know me, but trust me, you have no idea what goes on behind closed doors at my podcast innovation studio.

“Besides, I’m bored of Ofcom and its regulations and so it’s time for the UK to hear what a real award-winning podcast is like.

“Tune in or you’re going to be missing out on the best thing you’ll hear since I was last on the radio.”

Mr Partridge added that he hopes venturing into the podcast world would attract a “young, diverse and digitally-engaged audience”.

The podcast will reveal “a wiser, more reflective Alan” and it “demonstrates a maturity and insight that will be instantly recognisable to his fans, even if it’s not yet acknowledged by some of his more storied peers”.

An episode of From the Oasthouse is available for the next week on Amazon Alexa, before the full series launches on September 2.

Meanwhile, last month Steve Coogan’s bumbling disc jockey beat off competition from the likes of Basil Fawlty, Del Boy and Father Ted Crilly to be named Britain’s greatest ever comedy character in a countdown broadcast on UK Gold.

Ahead of the programme, the television channel hinted that should Alan be victorious they would reconsider reviving a long-since abandoned plan to build a statue of the comedy creation in Norwich city centre. However, it remains to be seen whether this will be the case.