It had to happen eventually. He started out 21 years ago as a minor sports presenter on Radio 4’s On the Hour, then made his way onto TV in The Day Today, before hosting his own chat show with Knowing Me, Knowing You. There have been two series of I’m Alan Partidge, broadcasts on YouTube, a novel and a memoir. His latest venture, Alan Partridge: Welcome to the Places of My Life, aired on Sky Atlantic last night. Now Alan Partridge has his own movie.

The Alan Partridge Movie is a co-production between Baby Cow and French company StudioCanal with BBC Films. It will be written by Peter Baynham, Steve Coogan, Armando Iannucci, Neil and Rob Gibbons and filmed from January next year. It’s release has already been announced for 16 August 2013. Partridge would no doubt encourage fans to stick the date in the diary. For the moment all he has to say is this:

“I'm simultaneously gladdened and pleased to see a British film being co-funded by the French dudes at StudioCanal. This is without doubt the greatest Anglo-French co-operation since the Normandy landings. This time, the heroes aren't Allied servicemen - they're motion picture financiers, who are equally brave. I'd also like to add that 'canal' - or, in English, 'canal' - is a transportation system close to my heart. In the late 18th century, this new method of logistics halved the price of coal in many English cities. If StudioCanal’s investment can achieve even a fraction of that, I will be delighted.”