Alan Ellis

Alan Ellis was the son of John Ellis. He was born on 6 April 1937.

As a teenager, Alan loved football. In 1953, he enjoyed the FA Cup final between Blackpool F.C. and Bolton Wanderers a great deal, punching the air when Bill Perry scored the winning goal for Blackpool. He joked that Perry had wings on his feet, which was why he was called a winger.

On 18 December of that year, he was devastated when his father disappeared, having been sent through the Rift. John bought him a football annual for Christmas but he was unable to give it to him as a result of his disappearance.

As an adult, Alan worked as a fireman, as his father had done during World War II. He married a woman named Sally but they had no children before she died. He eventually began to suffer from Alzheimer's disease and was admitted to a nursing home.

John returned to him after travelling in time through the Cardiff Rift. Alan remembered some snippets of his childhood, but did not realise who John was. His father later committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning as he saw no point to life without his family. (TV: Out of Time)

Torchwood website
The series 1 version of the Torchwood website contained an announcement for the wedding of Sally Newman and Alan Perkins. This would suggest that Alan's mother remarried following Ellis' disappearance. According to the announcement, their wedding took place on 12 April 1964 at St John's, 3pm, Butetown, Cardiff, South Glamorgan. A party afterwards was held at the Royal Swan Hotel, also in Butetown. The wedding list was at Ellis's, Cardiff.