Changing Ends – Season 1 Episode 1 Recap & Review

Episode 1 of Changing Ends Season 1 begins in Northampton in 1986. Young Alan is calling for his friend Charlie Hudson but the boy’s mother says he isn’t in. Moments later, she closes the door on his face. Inside, a woeful Charlie waves at Alan.

We cut to a football game being led by its manager Graham Carr (Alan’s dad). He is less-than-pleased about his team’s performance who are not the greatest players in the world. 

Meanwhile, Alan and his younger brother Gary are birdwatching. While looking out of the window, he sees Charlie and his mother arrive home. Alan excitedly runs out to meet Charlie but Mrs Hudson doesn’t want him to hang around with her son. She tells Mrs Carr (Christine) it’s because Alan acts like a girl. Moments later, Mr Hudson’s head pops out of the window and he falsely believes Alan has been spying on him in the shower. 

When Graham returns home, his wife tells him about Mrs Hudson. Outside, Alan sees Charlie again and runs after him as his pal runs away. When he catches up with him, Charlie tells him he’s playing football and doesn’t want Alan to play.

Back at the house, Alan’s parents discuss their son. Christine wants her husband to take Alan for a kickabout. He doesn’t think he will be interested but at that moment, Alan arrives home and tells his dad he wants to play football.

We cut to the field where Alan is trying to score a goal past his dad. The youngster isn’t very good. His dad tries to teach him a lesson about stamina but Alan isn’t interested in their conversation.

Back at the house, Nancy has some tickets for her husband’s upcoming football game. She calls around various ‘friends’ of Alan trying to get them to go to the game with him. There are no contenders.

Elsewhere, Alan is with his dad at the sports shop. His dad wants to buy him some football boots. At the shop, Alan sees Charlie and starts talking to him. Charlie’s dad tells Graham he saw Alan spying on him in the shower. He then spots Alan with Charlie and thinks he is spying on his son.

That night, Alan asks his mum if he is normal. She tells him he is fine but he wants to know why Mrs Hudson said awful things about him. She reassures him that he’s fine the way he is.

The next day, Graham gets his team ready for their latest match. Outside, Alan and his mum are queuing up for the game. Charlie waves to him.

In the changing rooms, Graham meets Joey, who is supposed to lead the team out onto the field. But the boy trips and injures himself. Alan arrives and offers to fill in for Joey. Graham isn’t sure but he agrees to it anyway. However, he tells him to stay away from the ball. 

The team walk onto the pitch. Alan leads them out while his mum and other onlookers cheer them on. On the field, the players are more interested in teasing Alan than trying to score a goal. But in the process, Alan gets the opportunity to kick the ball into the net. He misses and knocks Charlie’s dad in the head with the ball. 

In the background is the older Alan Carr telling us that if you can’t kick a ball into the net, kick a ball into the head of a bigot instead!

The Episode Review

If you have ever wondered what comedian Alan Carr was like as a kid, you might want to tune into Changing Ends, which gives us a glimpse into his childhood and family life. 

Young Oliver Savell ably captures the comedian’s mannerisms; aspects of his character that are off-putting to the bigoted Hudson family across the road. Their negative attitudes towards Alan and his girlish behaviour were common to many homophobic people of the time, so in that regard, the first episode perfectly encapsulates the intolerance many gay people experienced during the 80s. 

In terms of comedy, this episode was lightly funny rather than laugh-out-loud hilarious. But it passed the time well enough, giving us hope for an enjoyable comedy series.