Alan

Alan (last name unknown) was Val's love interest. At the beginning of the story, Alan is boarding in Val's spare room and is known to be involved romantically with Val. In episode 4, after Lee has returned from Wales, it is established that Alan has moved into Val's room, leaving the spare room vacant. In episode 8, Val reveals that she and Alan had split some time after Lee returned to Wales, citing, among other things, that "...he was a bully" and "...his expectations were not the same as mine". (Val, pg 230, episode 8)

Personality and habits
Alan is shown to be a hard, violent man, starting very early on in Episode 1 when he returns from work and has an altercation with Lee at dinner which very quickly turns physical, with Alan striking Lee on the face.

In Episode 4, we see Alan take Lee on a work trip, driving up to (location needed) in his lorry. Along the way, Lee is exposed to a number of stories about Alan and his womanising personality, and also hears a number of sexist and insensitive jokes from Alan (note: these jokes, while sexist, were common enough at the time the story is set even if they have aged poorly by modern standards). The trip is fraught with tension between Alan and Lee which comes to a head when, after one of Alan's more tasteless jokes, Lee accuses Alan of "not liking women very much". Alan takes this as Lee calling him "queer", which quickly devolves into a row. Lee leaves the roadside cafe and hitchhikes back to Manchester. Alan returns home to Val where they argue about having lost Lee, and Alan leaves.