A gift from Joyce...
Ted is stunned to find a ticket to Australia that his late wife left him
Joyce Murray spent much of her short time on Albert Square talking about the perils of having to live off a state pension. But she obviously wasn’t as broke as she made out.
Somehow, she managed to find the cash to secretly buy husband Ted a flight to Australia
– as the widower is shocked to discover when he opens the last of the letters she has left him.
Ted was handed the envelope last week by his and Joyce’s old pal Joanie. But as this week’s action kicks off, it remains unopened. Instead, Ted focuses his attention on a chess match that he has organised for Bernadette.
The pensioner is thrilled when the teen is victorious, but as he celebrates, he’s struck down with chest pain, which he dismisses as heartburn.
Meanwhile, he later decides to burn the letter, but backs out at the last second. It’s lucky for him he does, because as Bernie reads the note, they see that Joyce has enclosed a plane ticket to Oz.
Ted is obviously delighted, having long wanted to head down under to visit his son, Alan. But as he prepares for the trip, he suffers with more chest pains. Concerned Sonia insists on taking him to hospital, where Ted reveals he’s been given a clean bill of health – failing to admit that he’s actually been diagnosed with angina.
Returning home to the Square, Ted decides to treat his friends before he jets off – setting up a bar tab for Patrick and the Taylors to keep them in ale for a while, and giving Bernie a wad of cash. But with his health on dodgy ground, will he make it on to the plane? And if he does, will he ever come back?