Alan Partridge BBC return teased as episode 1 script completed

The project's full title remains a secret

The return of Alan Partridge has been teased by the writing team of the recently-confirmed BBC series.

In August, the channel confirmed that Steve Coogan character Patrirdge will be returning in 2018 with a series set to explore his newfound role as “the voice of Brexit.”

Comedy scribe Neil Gibbons tweeted a picture of the script - co-written by himself, Rob Gibbons and Coogan - with the caption: “It lives.”

The project's full title is redacted.

“Alan will be back on the BBC early next year - there will be a lot of Alan on TV next year”, Coogan revealed in June.

The comedian devised the idea of the Brexit-inspired series having initially struggled to come up with a reason as to why Partridge would be allowed to have his fictional show back on the channel.

He told The New European: “Well, because he has got a show on the BBC, we have a problem, because we have to explain why he’s a failure, but that he has a show. The logic of what he is doing has to make sense, adding: “It’s conceivable because, in this age of Brexit, they [the BBC] might think they need to get in touch with the ‘Little Englanders’ they ignore,” he added.

The new series will be the character's first new appearance on the BBC in 15 years having jumped to Sky Atlantic for Alan Partridge's Scissored Isle in 2016.

While unconfirmed, the series is expected to air in Spring. Until then, find solace in the fact that a script - well, a draft one, anyway - is in existence.