Teddy Thompkins was the father of civil engineer Leo who began a relationship with Jenny Connor in the latter half of 2021. After Leo disappeared in late 2022 he was determined to track his son down however he was later murdered by the same man who killed Leo, Stephen Reid.
With an age gap between them of more than twenty-years, Jenny constantly agonised about the difference between the two of them, despite assurances from Leo and positive statements from his friends about her, but nothing prepared her for the shock of meeting Teddy when Leo was injured in a rugby match and taken to Weatherfield General. There, Jenny waited for Leo who was having a couple of stitches put in, and Teddy instantly recognised her from their days together at Weatherfield Comprehensive where they were both in Mrs Atkins' class together. Totally unaware of her relationship with his son, he complimented her on her unchanging looks whereas she initially didn't recognise him from the lad who sported a look, fashionable in the 1980s, of eyeliner and blond spikey hair.
Telling her that he was also there to see someone, he bought Jenny a coffee and they chatted about their schooldays, remembering especially a trip in the third year to a pencil museum, where Teddy laughed as he remembered how Jenny had tried to jump a fence, only to get stuck with her knickers on display to the world. An embarrassed but amused Jenny countered by saying that Teddy had been too busy snogging her friend Joanne Cresswell to notice and was taken aback when he admitted that it had been her that he had always fancied, but he had been too shy to say anything for almost ten years. Regretting the lost opportunities, Teddy asked Jenny if he could take her out for a drink sometime but before she could answer Leo came out of the treatment room and properly introduced the two taken-aback former schoolfriends to each other. Jenny asked to be beamed up to extricate her out of a mortifying situation and after admitting that he had just asked her out, Teddy complimented his son of his taste in women.
Despite her embarrassment, the encounter seemed to fortify Jenny and after being told by Carla Barlow that she should just try and find happiness for herself, she reached a sudden decision and invited Leo to move into the Rovers with her. He did so but insisted he pay rent. When soon afterwards, he was made redundant, he obtained a loan from Teddy to keep to his side of the agreement, although Jenny told him there was no need to do so.
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After receiving news about his son's disappearance, Teddy learned that the last texts Leo sent were from Weatherfield. Determined to find any clues that might lead to his son's whereabouts, he travelled back from Canada. In his desperation, he turned to alcohol to cope with the stress and became drunk. During his intoxicated state, he got into a physical altercation with Stephen Reid, during which he realised that Stephen may have played a role in Leo's disappearance. As he stumbled back onto the road, he failed to notice an approaching van and was struck by it at full speed.
List of appearances[]
2022
- Wed 26th Jan (1)
- Wed 26th Jan (2)
- Mon 26th Sep (1)
- Fri 30th Sep (1)
- Fri 21st Oct (2)
- Mon 24th Oct (1&2)
- Thu 29th Dec
- Fri 30th Dec
- Sat 31st Dec
2023