Derek Thompson: I don't know why I did it but now people say I'm Alan Partridge

In a far-distant universe, somewhere on the mad side of the Planet Barmy, there are two movies currently in post-production. The first is Alan Partridge: The Movie, starring Derek Thompson in the title role. The second is Derek Thompson: The Movie, with Alan Partridge in the title role. It's unlikely either will be coming to a cinema near you. Which is a shame.

Thompson has long been one of the national treasures of racing television, with a rampantly populist approach to broadcasting that makes Matt Chapman look like Orla Guerin. Now, however, the unstoppable 70-year-old has entered an entirely new realm of popularity, nestling somewhere between burgeoning cult figure and viral sensation, according to figures supplied by the Bureau of Funny Things That Happen.

To mistake him for the aforementioned Partridge is now not so much understandable as inevitable, such is the universe of humour he moves in.