Lee Turner

Lee, Morgan and Pugh at the kitchen table in Blainau.

Lee was the son of Val and Ken Turner and nephew to Morgan. He "had briefly been Morgan's boy" (pg 251), the epithet given to him on occasion by various characters throughout the story. At the beginning of the story, Lee lost his job at a local supermarket. At 17, out of school and with no immediate prospects for the future, his seemingly aimless attitude to life became a point of conflict between Lee, Val and Alan.

## Physical Appearance, Personality and Habits

Lee was a tall young man almost equal in height to Morgan and his mother, Val. He was also exceedingly thin, presumably a trait from the Turner side of the family.

Lee smoked, although by the end of the series, he had given up.

## Personal Relationships

### Family

Many of Lee's family members were met or alluded to in the show, including his uncle Morgan, mother Val, and grandparents Gwen and Ivor Thomas. Although he did not appear in the show, Lee's father Ken was alluded to multiple times, with Alan, Val and Morgan all mentioning having met Ken at one time or another. It was noted early on that Ken simply up and left, having disappeared one night four years prior to the story and never returned (pg5). In Episode 8, Lee asked for (and presumably received) his father's new address, intending to visit his father after seeing off Morgan.

### Friends

Lee had a number of friends in Manchester, some of whom Lee went on a pub crawl with before he left for Wales. Carol (see Romantic interests below) and Colin took Lee out to a pub on the Saturday the 14th of January, the day before Lee left for Wales (Episode 1). Later on in Episode 6, Colin, Ros and Greener came to visit Lee at Blainau.

In Wales, Lee only had one friend, Matthew Gibbs, although he was briefly friendly with Sarah Griffiths and Louise Gibbs when she came to stay with the Gregorys at Plas Newydd in Episode 5 (see Romantic interests below).

### Romantic interests

Lee had three romantic interests: Carol, Sarah Griffiths and Louise Gibbs.

#### Carol

Carol was Lee's girlfriend at the beginning of Episode 1 and worked with Lee at the supermarket. In Episode 4, Alan asked what happened to Carol and Lee stated that she "just sort of went away". On page 49 of the book, we further learn that Carol was friends with Colin and she wrote to Lee often in his first few weeks away, but Lee never wrote back. Carol was not mentioned again after Episode 4.

#### Sarah Griffiths

Lee's interest in Sarah Griffiths was relatively short-lived and began when Lee first saw Sarah in the school bus as it drove by Blainau each morning. Pugh noted in Episode 3 that Lee did "everything bar lying in the road when the school bus comes", indicating that Lee's infatuation was particularly obvious. Tom Griffiths, Sarah's father, later mentioned to Morgan that Mrs. Lewis, the school bus driver, had reported that Lee "...do make eyes at my Sarah", and Morgan defended Lee, stating that she "should keep her eyes on the road".
At the end of Episode 3, Lee went around to the Griffiths' farm to ask Sarah to help at the Gregorys' party planned for the next week and he unwittingly interrupted a tete-a-tete between Sarah and her secret lover Gethwyn Price. Later, Price and his fellow farmhand Graham lured Lee and Matthew out of the Castle Inn and Price struck Lee in the stomach for having interrupted his Sunday with Sarah. Lee's relationship with Sarah fizzled out after this point, making for an awkward time between the two characters at the Gregorys' party in Episode 4.

#### Louise Gibbs

Louise Gibbs was Lee's final romantic interest in the show, and the one which caused him the most trouble. Lee had just returned from Manchester and was sullen and miserable until he met Louise at Plas Newydd on the evening of Monday the 19th of March. Lee was immediately struck by Louise's beauty and went to great lengths to impress her, including borrowing Matthew's motorbike and even claiming he could ride a horse just so he could spend time with her. Lee and Louise went out together several times over the week of the 19th - 25th of March and visited a number of places such as St. Ellyw's Church, Castel Dinas, and a wine bar in Brecon. On that Sunday the 25th, Morgan went out to church and stayed another hour away from Blainau by spending time at Tower Inn, talking about sheep to a near neighbour to pass the time as he had promised Lee that he would return after 1pm (pg143). During this time away, Louise came over to Blainau and Louise ended up coercing Lee to sleep with her on the Old Lady's bed. When Morgan returned home, Louise heavily insinuated to Morgan what had happened, pushing both Lee and Morgan until one of them snapped. When she pulled out the Old Lady's comb and began brushing her hair with it, Morgan shouted at her to leave Blainau, and once she was gone, Morgan struck Lee. Louise left Wales soon after this, and Morgan and Matthew reconciled that same night.

## During the Show

### January

* 9th Monday - Lee was sacked from his job at the supermarket.
* 10th Tuesday - Lee returned to pick up his papers, refused his boss's offer to keep him on.
* 13th Friday - Spent the day at the job centre but was unable to find a new position. Fought with Val when she suggested he go to Wales.
* 14th Saturday - Had farewell drinks with Carol and Colin.
* 15th Sunday - Took the National Coach with Val to Pengenffordd where Morgan picked them up.
* 16th Monday - Went to Talgarth, met Matthew and the Gregorys, rang home, was taken to Castle Inn by Morgan for beers.

### February

* 12th Saturday - Asked by Matthew to help at the Gregorys' party.

More to be added.

## Trivia

* Achieved O-levels in English, Woodwork and Scripture

## References

1. ↑ ROWE, Alick, 1984, *Morgan's Boy*, Sphere Books Ltd., London