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Ted Page is the late father of Gail Rodwell who was absent for the first fifty years of his daughter's life.

Ted was a soldier, and was in a relationship with Audrey Potter during the 1950s. She turned down his proposal and he left, unaware that she was pregnant. It wasn't until he reunited with Audrey in 2008 that he found out he had a daughter. In the intervening years, Ted had moved to London and come out as gay, with his husband, James, having recently passed away.

Ted was a fixture in Coronation Street for two years and kept in touch with Gail from that point until his death in 2021.

Biography[]

1940-2008: Early years[]

Hurt that her father had not considered her mature enough to be a parent, Audrey Potter tried to prove that she was mature enough by getting pregnant. However, when her boyfriend Ted was about to propose, she realised she didn't love him and turned him down and didn't tell him about the pregnancy. Ted left to do his National Service and wasn't seen again in Weatherfield until 2008. After being rejected by Audrey, Ted met a woman called Iris but the relationship didn't work and he was left heartbroken. Sometime in the 1980s, he met a man called James and they started a relationship together. They got married in 2006 when civil partnerships became legal and remained together until James's death some time in 2007.

2008-2021: Return and meeting Gail[]

Ted returned to Weatherfield when Audrey got in touch with him. They agreed to meet and talk about what had happened since they split up. As Audrey had kept her pregnancy with Gail a secret and chose not to tell him, Ted became agitated over missing out on watching his daughter grow up, not to mention seeing his grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was very angry with Audrey but when he met Gail, they bonded almost instantly. He initially mistook David's girlfriend Tina McIntyre for granddaughter Sarah, but Gail reminded him that she'd moved to Italy a few months ago. Ted supported grandson David when he was going to his job interview at a salon (going so far as to fraudulently write a letter of recommendation using Audrey's name) while Gail was away, as Ted was keeping an eye on David during that time. When Gail returned, she found that the house had been cleaned and Tina and David had held a party whilst she was away, and Ted was willing to support and lie for them, even leading to Ted helping to redecorate the house.

Ted started a friendship with street resident Ken Barlow. This caused Ken's acid-tongued mother-in-law Blanche Hunt to suspect he was gay, and started rumours which made Ken's wife Deirdre suspicious that her husband was up to no good. When Blanche noticed Ken's weird taste in reading material, she instantly believed he was turning gay and had started a relationship with Ted. This was later proved wrong, as the two men simply shared common interests like literature and the theatre, but Blanche still loved to make comments about Ken and Ted being together.

Ted found out about Ken's affair with actress Martha Fraser in 2009, but supported Ken through his decisions. Ted even stood by Ken when Audrey became suspicious when she caught Ken chasing Martha, who split from Ken. Ken resumed his relationship with Martha and was planning to leave with her, but changed his mind at the last minute.

Ted's grandson David planned to frame neighbour Gary Windass for robbery, by sending him to Audrey's house to rob it, although Gary was unaware of whose house it was. Audrey had left with Gail to visit Sarah and granddaughter Bethany in Milan and Ted was house-sitting for Audrey. While Gary was in the house robbing the place, Ted caught him and chased him away, and later phoned the police. He moved into 8 Coronation Street but had a heart attack due to the stress. David was later found out and Ted was disgusted with him, but later felt sympathetic as David was upset over Tina dumping him and was scared that Gary was trying to take her away.

Ted gives Gail away 2010

2010: Ted has the delight of giving his daughter away

Ted returned in November when Gail got engaged to Joe McIntyre. He wasn't happy when Gary made nasty comments about the poppies, which represented men who had died in the war. But after talking to him, Gary had a change of heart and decided to join the army.

Ted gave his daughter away when she married Joe in January 2010. He later left the street and returned to London. Gail was under suspicion of murder in March, shortly after Joe attempted to fake his death in the Lake District and accidentally drowned. She was later arrested and held in custody until her trial in July. Ted was mentioned to have had the flu as he couldn't make it to support Gail. He phoned his daughter again after she was found not guilty.

Although Ted didn't visit Weatherfield again, he still kept in contact with Gail. Although this contact gradually lessened over time, in February 2021 she was deeply upset to find out Ted had died via phone call from his partner Andrew.

Personality[]

Duckworths 1983
"If you've owt to say, spit it out before it flamin' well chokes yer"
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Background information[]

Young ted page

Photo of Ted as a young man, which was shown to Gail in Episode 4827 (24th May 2000)

According to early accounts from Gail in 1975, her parents were strictly religious people. This was changed in 1979 when her mother Audrey Potter debuted in the series and it was later established Gail didn't know her father. The identity of Gail's father was first revealed to her and audiences in Episode 4827 (24th May 2000), with his name identified as Ted Page and a photo of a young Ted in the army being shown to Gail (as seen above).

Ted was introduced into the show almost eight years later in Episode 6806 which aired on 28th April 2008. Veteran film and television actor Michael Byrne was cast in the role. Byrne appeared in the role on a semi-regular basis, with Ted normally absent for long periods of time. The character made his final appearance in Episode 7263 on 29th January 2010, although there was no previous announcement that this would be Byrne's final contribution to the show.

Following the character's last appearance, Ted would continue to be referenced in scripts, with Gail seen on the phone to him following her prison release in June 2010. In September 2014, Gail revealed that she was still in contact with Ted and she received a birthday card from him in April 2016. As time went by the character's mentions became less frequent, and the character was killed off-screen in February 2021, eleven years after his last appearance.

First and last lines[]

"Either you were the younger sister of Audrey Potter, or I was involved with a minor." (First line, to Audrey after meeting her for the first time in nearly fifty years)

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"A week's fine." (Final line)

Appendices[]

List of addresses[]

Address Duration
Weatherfield 1950s
London unknown date to February 2021

Note: During Ted's on-off visits to Weatherfield from 2008 to 2010, he would occassionally stay at either 8 Coronation Street or 5 Grasmere Drive.

Employment history[]

Role Institution Duration
Soldier Unknown late 1950s
Businessman Self-employed unknown to 2000s

See also[]

Full list of appearances

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