It's not clear if he's convinced BBC bosses of the merits of Monkey Tennis or Youth Hostelling With Chris Eubank, but Alan Partridge will be returning to the small screen.

Comedian Steve Coogan revealed on The One Show that his comic creation will be returning to the BBC next year.

He said: 'Alan will be back on the BBC early next year. There will be a lot of Alan on telly next year, if you can wait that long.'

When asked what Alan's role will be, he said: 'I'm trying to do a leak to the press about it. He'll just be back on a show, I think it might be a bit like this kind of show. In fact, I'm here to do research.' When presenter Alex Jones said she and co-host Amol Rajan could be Coogan's inspiration, he said; 'Yeah, that's one way of putting it.'

He also talked about his fondness for his Norwich-based character. He said: 'I quite like Alan, even though he's a bit of an idiot. It's like spending eight hours a day with an idiot. So eventually you want to go away and leave him alone and then you come back to him. It's like a relative you don't mind seeing at Christmas, but you don't want to live with him.'

Partridge's return to the BBC comes after the character made his big screen debut in Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa, parts of which were filmed in Norwich and Cromer.