Fred Elliott

Frederick Handel "Fred" Elliott was a Master Butcher and first appeared in the Street as part of the Weatherfield delegation to their French twin town. At a black pudding contest, Fred tried to bribe the French judges, and nearly caused a diplomatic incident.

Later in 1995, Fred started to become a Street regular - we saw his shop and his assistant, 'nephew' Ashley Peacock, and Granada decided how to spell his name when it was written on the side of his van - it was previously spelt with various combinations of 'l's and 't's.

Now firmly established, he is Grand Master of the Weatherfield Square Dealers, senior partner in the Street racehorse, Betty's Hotshot, currently chasing Rita Sullivan, and famed, I say famed, for his repetitive speech.

As a youngster, he grew up at 22 Ashchurch Grove, next door to the Mottersheads and their daughter Suzie - who later became Ken Barlow's head teacher.

In May 1999, after gossiping a bit too much to Audrey Roberts, Fred was forced to admit that Ashley was his secret son. About a year after Fred's first wife Sybil had died, Fred became romantically involved with Kathleen, a young worker in the Elliott's old shop in Nelson Street. Kathleen became pregnant, but scoffed at the idea when Fred proposed marriage - she was too young and wanted to see the world. It was agreed that Kathleen would leave the baby boy with Fred's childless sister, Beryl Peacock and her husband Sam. They brought up Ashley as their own son, never telling him of his true parentage.

Ashley found out that Fred was his dad and they forged a close bond, even moving in together in Number 4 which Fred bought from Mavis Wilton after the death of Derek. Ashley and Maxine lived there until Maxine died and then Claire the nanny moved in, eventually marrying Ashley and completing the family with the birth of Thomas, a new Elliot grandson in 2006.

Fred was scammed by a woman named Stacey who pretended to be an immigrant called Orchid, looking for a "mail order" husband. She was after his money, working with an acquaintance of Fred's. Ashley discovered her working on a market and Fred's heart was again broken. A year or so later, Fred discovered Orchid beaten and being admitted to hospital. He almost took her back in but in the end sent her on her way.

Always a serial proposer, having been turned down by Rita Sullivan, Audrey Roberts and Doreen Heavy, he made friends with Shelley Unwin's mom, Bev. They started to develop a closeness that they both shied away from, having been burned by members of the opposite sex in relationships but soon came to care deeply for each other. This time, Fred's proposal was accepted. They decided to move away from Weatherfield and Fred accepted an offer for the pub from Steve MacDonald. The wedding was all set to go. However, his old friend Audrey was having doubts and spilled her heart out to Fred. She regretted saying no to him all those years ago! This caused Fred a lot of anxiety but on his wedding day, he rushed from the church to see Audrey and told her gently that he was marrying Bev, whom he loved. On the way out of the house, he collapsed from a massive coronary leaving his family, friends and almost wife, Bev, devastated.

Beyond the Grave
In 2008, Ashely hired Grahem Proctor, who would help him out in the butchers. In January 2009, it was said that Grahem will start speaking like Fred after wearing his hat, hinting he is being possessed.

This storyline came to light in February 2009, around the same time Clare Peacock "returned" to the street. He began speaking like Fred after wearing his hat and Ashely couldn't believe it. Then he later found out that his wife Clare told Graheme about Fred and how he used to speak, and now Graheme was taking the piss out of it. Graheme apologised to a heartbroken Ashely.