Meet the PARENTS

SHAUN DOOLEY and NANCY SULLIVAN on having a field day playing Alan Carr's nearest and dearest

Actors Shaun Dooley and Nancy Sullivan were excited to be cast as Alan Carr's parents in his semi-autobiographical. sitcom Changing Ends.

Charting the comedian and presenter's upbringing in 1980s Northampton as the son of a Fourth Division football manager, the six-part first season scored a hit when it debuted on ITVX last year (a second outing is in the pipeline; see box, right), and this week it arrives on ITV1.

TV Times pitched up for a chat with Shaun, recently seen in acclaimed factual drama Mr Bates vs The Post Office, and theatre star Nancy to talk fame and football...

Alan's father, former professional footballer Graham Carr, was at the helm of Northampton Town, AKA the Cobblers, between 1985 and 1990. Shaun, what did you think when you were asked to portray him?

SHAUN I had heard of Northampton Town, but when I found out Alan's dad was a football manager, I thought, 'No way!' We went to watch Alan's live stand-up and the stories about his upbringing are unbelievable!

As an actor, I find that smell often transports you somewhere else. I found out Graham used Aramis aftershave. I used half a bottle for the first series, and I'm halfway through the rest filming the second.

And, Nancy, how did you feel about playing Alan's mum, Christine Carr?

NANCY My audition was the first in-person one I'd done since lockdown and I left thinking that I could've done better. So I went home and made a selftape, sent it in, and apparently Alan watched it and declared, "That's my mum!"

The role of Christine immediately felt familiar to me, through women I'd grown up around in the 1980s. When I met Christine, I knew it was about fusing the familiar with any missing pieces to create this fully formed person. Shaun and I wanted to keep the spirit of who Alan's parents are as people without trying to impersonate anyone.