Steve Coogan spared driving ban after plea to save new TV show
6 February 2025, 12:06 | Updated: 6 February 2025, 12:09
Steve Coogan has avoided a driving ban after pleading with the judge that it would impact his upcoming TV show.
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Coogan, 59, was caught doing 97mph on the M6 near Telford on 29 July last year.
The Alan Partridge actor already had six points on his licence - so a further six would have seen him disqualified but in a letter to Birmingham Magistrates Court, he stressed that a ban would result in the next series of his sitcom The Trip being "severely impacted"
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His letter read "I am due to appear in a well-established TV series called The Trip (with Rob Brydon) which as the title suggests requires me to drive," according to the Evening Standard.
He added that other "important film commitments" this year also require him to drive.
He wrote: "These projects would be severely impacted, not only affecting my own livelihood but also the many individuals dependent on these productions for work.
"These include camera, sound, and lighting technicians, riggers, and others on modest wages who would face cancellations and financial hardship, as rescheduling such projects is often highly complicated."
Coogan implored the judge to impose five points instead of six - which after he pleaded guilty - was eventually agreed upon on January 30.
He was also fined £2,500, given a £1,000 surcharge, and forced to pay £90 in costs.
The series sees Coogan and Brydon playing caricatures of themselves - travelling around the likes of Italy, Spain and the UK. Director Michael Winterbottom has previously said there would not be a fifth series - but Coogan's court correspondence suggests otherwise.
Four years previously the I'm Alan Partridge star was caught driving his Porsche at 36mph in a 30mph zone close to his £4million mansion in Halland, East Sussex. But the motoring enthusiast already had nine points from previous motoring offences and a further three points would have meant he would have had 12 points and faced an automatic six-month ban under the totting up procedure.
However, magistrates in Crawley decided to hand Coogan a two-month ban after hearing a sixth-month suspension would force him to cancel an Alan Partridge travelogue television series
