Alan trained at the Manchester Polytechnic School of Theatre. Before his television break in The Bill Alan appeared in the movie shorts At The Risk Of Blindness and In Tandem (the latter with his Bill co-star Andrea Mason). He also worked as an extra including appearing twice (in the same episode) of Coronation Street in 1993. In 1997 he starred in the video for Another Night In by the indie rock band Strangelove.
