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The story of an exceedingly camp boy growing up in the East Midlands, in the 80s, with a football manager dad and not many friends, has “gritty Bildungsroman” written all over it. How many others follow a youngster just trying to hang on to his identity until adulthood can propel him into a world that understands him better? But Alan Carr ’s semi-autobiographical sitcom Changing Ends is not that story. While young Alan is still an outlier in his conservative hometown, his spirit (that of a 75-year-old woman) remains uncrushed in this warm and witty coming-of-age comedy.

The first series was a surprise hit last year and was recently upped to a terrestrial broadcast after first airing on streaming platform ITVX. Now series two has a 9pm Saturday night slot and Carr is back (sadly without his co-writer, the late Simon Carlyle) with more tales of his childhood idiosyncrasies bumping up against 80s conventionality. The opening double bill returned us to 1987 Northampton, re-introducing us to an almost-12-year-old Alan, brilliantly played by Oliver Savell ( Belfast ) whose performance is so much more than the sum of his thick-rimmed specs, false teeth and distinct voice (again, that of a 75-year-old woman).



Still not quite the son his father (Shaun Dooley) expected, Alan is content to spend his Friday nights watching wrestling on the TV with his mum (Nancy Sullivan). Read Next Henry Rowley: 'I mock my posh friends on social media - and they love it' In episode one, caving to .

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