In December 2010, Val Pollard (Charlie Hardwick) asks Alan about the events surrounding Eric's second wife Elizabeth's (Kate Dove) death 17 years earlier in the plane crash after her son Michael Feldmann (Matthew Vaughan) accuses Eric of murdering her and covering it up through the crash. Alan tells Val that there had been a lot of suspicion about Eric in the aftermath of the plane crash. In January 2011, Alan and Betty move into Mill Cottage temporarily after a fire, started by Nick Henshall (Michael McKell), damages their home. Alan and Betty move back in once their house is renovated. For Alan's 76th birthday on 5 August 2011, he is touched by the replacement watch his friends buy him after his stops working.