Frederick "Fred" Gee was potman at the Rovers Return Inn from 1976 to 1984, under landlady Annie Walker. Fred's first wife Edna worked at the Mark Brittain Warehouse from 1971. When Edna died in a fire at the Warehouse, Fred became known to her friends in Coronation Street and in 1976 he was recommended to Annie when she was looking for a live-in cellarman at the Rovers. Petty, ignorant and coarse, Fred liked to think he was in charge of the pub, but Annie easily dominated him, and barmaids Bet Lynch ridiculed him and Betty Turpin did nothing to hide her contempt for him.