Alison Dunkley was the wife of Brian Dunkley and sister to Denise Osbourne. In January 1996, it was revealed that Denise and Brian had been having an affair for two years. In light of the revelation, Denise tried to reconcile with Ken Barlow - the father of her son Daniel - however Ken refused to forgive Denise and so she and Brian decided to flee. When Alison discovered that the pair were set to leave she begged Ken to take Denise back as she still wanted to be with Brian, but Ken refused.