After six years playing Alec Gilroy, Roy Barraclough quit the programme to return to the stage. Barraclough wished for Alec to be killed off but writers instead chose to have him leave Bet. Meanwhile, Nigel Pivaro made a return as Terry Duckworth for a major storyline which ran over two years. Caroline Milmoe was cast as Lisa Horton, Terry's fiancée and eventual wife, and Darryl Edwards as Tom Duckworth, who was born while Terry was in prison for GBH, with Jack and Vera taking care of Lisa and Tom.