Ossie Oswald was a ventriloquist who had played at the Orinoco Club when Rita Fairclough, then Littlewood, had performed there years before, topping the bill. He bumped into her again in January 1980 when she left husband Len and decamped to Poppy Watts’s theatrical boarding house in Clarence Street, Salford. Hearing from Mrs Watts that Rita was the latest guest, he went to her room with his dummy - Dolly Daydream. At first Rita didn’t recognise him, partially due to the passage of time but also because when she knew him previously his dummy was Tommy Atkins. He spoke fondly of the business but understood Rita’s problems as his own wife, Doris, had left him 18 years before as she hadn’t viewed his profession as a proper job.