Hove comic Steve Coogan is dropping his Alan Partridge character before he becomes an albatross.
The latest series of I'm Alan Partridge, following the Radio Norwich DJ has proved a hit on BBC2.
But Steve said he has had enough of the bumbling commentator.
He said: "There won't be another series. It's time for me to do something new before everyone thinks I am Alan Partridge.
"I've had a great time playing Alan and I had no idea how successful he would be but it has to end."
Partridge first surfaced in the radio show On The Hour before finding TV fame with The Day Today and becoming king of chat with Knowing Me, Knowing You.
Steve said he thought the latest series was funnier than The Office, which it replaced in television listings. But not everyone has been amused.
Norwich councillor Charles Joyce said the Partridge mythology was bad for the area's image.
And Norfolk academic Victor Morgan claimed the backwater stereotype "can destroy lives just as surely as the terrorist's bomb".
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