Changing Ends, ITVX, review: how Alan Carr went from bullied kid to Chatty Man

“Believe it or not,” shrugs Alan Carr, “there was a time before I was a national treasure.” This sweet sitcom takes us back to the camp comedian’s adolescence in 1980s Northampton: a period during which he “lost a friend with every pube I gained”. We see his mum tangle with the homophobic couple across the street (who refuse to let their son continue to be “polluted” by the little Carr) and we watch him face school bullies who are unhappy with the way his dad is managing the town’s fourth division football team.

The real Carr narrates straight to camera while the excellent young actor Oliver Savell plays his younger self. There’s a poignant contrast between the softness of the child and the waspishness of the adult, which could have been played up to more powerful effect. But Carr is determined to keep things light. So when kid Carr asks his dad (Shaun Dooley) if he’s normal – and gets the blunt response “I don’t think you know what normal is” – the adult Carr pops up to caw: “Hey snowflakes! This was therapy, 80s style”.

The lower-middle-class 80s-ness is impeccably rendered. The Carr house comes complete with stone fireplace, rustic scenes on the kitchen tiles and orange blurting from the J&G Meakin Poppy tableware. The lines are peppy too. But they’re all very obviously written in the voice of the adult Carr, which means laughs comes at the expense of distinctive character credibility. And the bubbly mood sometimes sits uncomfortably atop the bigotry, like froth on a bitter cappuccino.

But Gabby Best is terrifically crass as the awful neighbour (imagine a bitchier Dorien from Birds of a Feather) and Nancy Sullivan glows as Christine Carr. She’s brilliant at half-knowing, half-denying her son’s sexuality. It’s clear that her love gave him the confidence to become TV’s Chatty Man.