From KCRW in Santa Monica, this is The Treatment.

Welcome to The Treatment.

I'm Elvis Mitchell.

You can also hear this show at KCRW.com.

A war in the Middle East May breakout.

What's more important than saving lives?

Well, saving face.

As scene director, Armando Yanucci's brilliant satire in the loop,

which derives a bit from his great BBC series of Thigrid.

Armando, first of all, thanks so much for being here.

What I'd like about so much of the stuff you've done,

going back to even to Alan Partridge, is just the sheer comedy in arrogance and insecurity.

Well, I think someone like Alan Partridge, played by Steve Kogan, he only survives because he's got a thick skin.

So he's arrogant and he is insecure.

But his saving grace is that he doesn't realize the true extent

to which people are laughing at him. Because if he ever did, I think he would crumble. I think

that's the thing that defines him, the fact that, you know, we may think it's all terrible,

but inside he has another world going on. Yes, so arrogance and delusion, I think, would be the heart of your comedy.

But there's a tradition of British television comedy

about the last angry man going back to Steptoe and Stun and Love Thy Neighbor,

and to some extent even Yes Minister,

which I imagine has to be kind of an influence on the way you work.

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