Changing Ends

Having a father who's the football manager of a fourth division club is never going to be easy, but when you're being dropped by your friends for being camp Alan decides to take things into his own hands. Should he go against his own instincts and become a footballer himself? Will throwing himself into the beautiful game be enough to win back his bezzie mate Charlie?

Christine is desperate for Graham to take her on a night out. At school, Alan is struggling to hide who his father is from the bullies, and with the dread of communal showers looming, it is not just his fathers identity he wants to keep under wraps.

Graham's woes extend off the pitch and to the actual County Ground itself when one of the stands is condemned by the council. Alan gets the acting bug at the school drama club but Christine becomes concerned when he comes home from school with a black eye. How did he get it and who gave it to him? And has it got anything to do with the arrival of the enigmatic drama teacher, Ms. Gideon?

A brilliant but troubled striker gives the Cobblers a much-needed lifeline. With a book voucher up for grabs keen birdwatcher Alan becomes eagle eyed at the news of a pelican on the loose in the Northampton area. However, they aren't the only feathers that get ruffled when Sue's erotically charged book club gets a little bit out of hand.

It's BCG day at Alan's school and with misinformation about the side effects of the jab rife, Alan decides to pull a sickie. However, with Christine otherwise disposed it's up to a begrudging Graham to play nursemaid. With weak tea on the menu and a sports-heavy conversation as entertainment can Alan's acting skills last the whole day?

Autobiographical comedy. Things are looking up as the Cobblers are in the quarter-finals of the Milk Cup and Alan's got a part in the school play, but can the good times last?