Ian McAllister was a visiting lorry driver from Glasgow in Jim's Cafe looking for digs for the night and unable to find anything in the paper. Gail Tilsley mentioned that Elsie Tanner used to have lodgers (namely herself and Suzie Birchall) and Ian badgered Elsie to take him in. She gave in and took him back to No. 11. Renee Roberts called in to deliver a parcel and immediately jumped to a conclusion that Elsie wasn’t swift to disabuse her of. The next morning, Elsie cooked a good breakfast for Ian and they chatted. He drove back to Glasgow that night but it showed Elsie that she enjoyed having company in an otherwise empty house and was happy to take in Dan Johnson the following week, thus starting off another disastrous relationship in her life.