The Old Man was a tramp who sat next to Hilda Ogden on a park bench the dark night that she followed Stan Ogden, wondering what he was up to and where he was going in the evenings. The Man leered at her and started edging along the bench towards her, causing her to panic and run back to Coronation Street convinced he was following her. She ran into Len Fairclough who checked Viaduct Street and, laughing, told her there was no one there and it was in her imagination. A few nights later, Hilda discovered that Stan's trips out were to a meeting of a slimming club, "Fatties Anonymous".