Chatty Man Alan Carr shares stories from his school days in Northampton on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs

The homegrown comedian took to the mic today (December 28) to talk about his childhood memories in the town and share eight of his favourite tracks from across his life.

The 45-minute interview - which is available of Radio 4 catch-up - included memories of his teenage years at Weston Favell School and how a write-up of his pantomime performance in the Chronicle & Echo sparked his career in comedic acting.

Alan said on-air: "School was good. People always ask 'what's your childhood like'. Ages one through nine were great, lots of friends and being a class clown and mucking about. Then, of course, you start seeing people and you think 'well I don't fancy girls'. I was very introspective between nine and 14, but then you sort of come out of your shell again.

"There was a bit of bullying, but not like what people go through nowadays. I'm not justifying bullying but I must have been annoying.

"Then [at a pantomime] at Northampton Royal Theatre, I was Bottom. And that was perfect for me, and that's when I got a write-up in the Chronicle & Echo. And that's when I got a bit of a 'ooh yeah, I could get used to this'."

Alan also shared memories of his professional footballer father Graham Carr, who became manager of the Cobblers in the 1980s.

But where his father was a champion of the beautiful game, Alan was more interested in Prince and birdwatching.

Alan said: "I got a pair of binoculars for my 13th birthday. I went to Pitsford reservoir because there were some Canada Geese. My dad was great, really, there’s not many people who would take their son to the Farne Islands so that I could see the puffins."

Alan's top track for The Island included songs by Aretha Franklin, Adele and Shirley Bassey.