A boozer and womaniser in his younger years, Turner didn't endear himself to his fellow villager. But he’s mellowed with age and become a stalwart of the community.
Significant Others Debbie; Rosemary; Caroline Bates; Jo Steadman; Shelly
Marriages Jill; Shirley Foster
Jobs Estate manager, NY Estates; owner, Home Farm fish and game farm; landlord, The Woolpack; manager, Home Farm; minibus driver, Tate Haulage
1982 Takes over as Home Farm's estate manager but bullies colleague Joe Sugden.
1984 Nearly loses his job because of his gambling and drinking but cleans up his act and attempts a reconciliation with estranged wife, Jill.
1985 Becomes Parish councillor. Jill demands a divorce. Oxford undergraduate son Terence comes to stay. Accidentally knocks Jackie Merrick off his motorbike, hospitalising him for five months.
1988 Buys the Home Farm estate with Joe Sugden. Banned for drink driving. Joins a dating agency in search of love.
1989 Finds romance with secretary Caroline Bates and they become engaged but Caroline moves to Scarborough to look after her ill mum.
1991 Takes over the Woolpack when landlord Amos Brearly retires and opens a restaurant in the old taproom.
1993 Caroline returns and Alan proposes but she turns him down. Starts seeing drop-in centre worker Shirley Foster but shocked to discover she was once a prostitute.
1994 Marries Shirley on 10 February at Hotten Registry Office but just four months after their wedding Shirley is shot dead in a bungled Post Office raid.
1998 Has a fling with biker Jo Steadman. Granddaughter Tricia Stokes arrives and he employs her as a barmaid.
1999 Has a minor heart attack and sells the pub to Bernice Blackstock to pay off his debts. Proposes to lottery winner Stella Jones, but she thinks he’s after her money and turns him down.
2000 Bernice's mum Diane buys into the Woolpack and gets Turner into bed but he collapses with chest pains – although it's heartburn, not a heart attack.
2002 Daughter Steph Stokes turns up for Tricia’s wedding and some family skeletons come out of the closet.
2003 Steph steals his credit card and max-es it out. Turner buys the B&B but is hospitalised after a collapse. Steph discovers she’s not named in his will and is furious.
2004 Tricia is fatally injured in a New Year storm. Dates Steph's best mate Shelly but a jealous Steph splits them up. Steph plots to take Turner's money and murder him. Disowns Steph when she’s arrested for the murder of the missing Shelly.
2005 A disturbed Steph owns up to the murder but Shelly turns up at her own memorial service. Reunites with Shelly but she leaves him when he reconciles with Steph. Refuses to believe Steph’s claims that her brother Terence sexually abused her.
2006 Terence turns up and attempts to con Turner out of £20,000 and Turner learns that Steph’s abuse claims were true. Terence is murdered by Steph’s fiance Adam. Steph admits to murdering Shelly the previous year and is jailed.
Richard was born on January 2 1932 in Purley, Surrey. His first job was at his father's shoe-making factory, but he was keen to be an actor and joined the local amateur dramatics society then applied to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
Richard's first major role was in the late 50s in hit TV series Emergency Ward 10, as Dr John Rennie. He became a minor heartthrob and was so successful in the hospital drama that he was later given his own series, Oxbridge 2000. He also appeared in Life With The Lyons, alongside Petula Clark, and in the sitcom, All Aboard.
Richard appeared in many films including The Dam Busters, The Good Companions and The Barretts of Wimpole Street. Later TV work included roles in Honey Lane, Crossroads, and A Family At War.
Richard is divorced from third wife Noola, with whom he has a daughter, Emma, who was born in 1986. He also two sons, Douglas and Stephen, with his first wife Maureen and a daughter, Kate, with his late second wife Lynn.
Richard was diagnosed with a mild form of leukaemia in 1995 but his conditioned is managed by drugs.
