Reg Deadman

Born in the Edwardian era, Reg Deadman (Christopher Ettridge) was a lovably daft East End policeman and close friend to Phoebe and her father, Eric. Reg was a regular patron of the Royal Oak and was eventually employed by Phoebe to help her run the pub when her father died. Reg's apparent lack of intelligence was used as a running joke throughout the series, ensuring he remained a comic foil for Gary and Phoebe; one notable example is their frequent incredulous one-liners in response to Reg's lack of knowledge of sex, made all the more comedic by his many unwittingly graphic references to the exploits of his adulterous wife, Minnie. Despite this apparent sexual naivete though, Gary is eventually able to introduce Reg to a small son he never knew he had, Frankie, whom it turns out is the progeny of Reg's affair with a bus conductress named Margie.

Reg pretty much takes Gary Sparrow at his word when he says he is a World War II "secret agent" and Hollywood songwriter. Reg and Gary eventually become good friends, with Reg never seeming to catch on that there was something genuinely odd about his new pal.

Like Ron and Yvonne, Reg has relatives who interact with Gary in his travels through time, and in fact, he is the only regular 1940s character to have a descendant of his shown in the 1990s (Ron's Grandfather Albert Wheatcroft is seen in one episode). It was actually Reg's 1990s policeman grandson that was responsible for Gary discovering the time portal; it was he who directed Gary down Duckett's Passage in the first episode. This character interacts with Gary and Yvonne occasionally.

Gary also interacts with one of Reg's relatives during the one instance he travelled back to the 1880s. This relative is shown to be much smarter than Reg (perhaps even smarter than Gary), adorned with mutton chops, and aggressively yet cynically on the trail of Jack the Ripper.

In one episode it is revealed that Reg is still alive in the 1990s, but living in a care home, where he suffers from dementia.

He has 11 middle names, due to his father naming him after the entire Tottenham Hotspur F.C. team who had just won the 1901 F.A. Cup before he was born, however, at one point in Series Two, he gives his name as 'Reginald Horatio Deadman', revealing a minor continuity discrepancy or that Reg had been joking about his middle names.

In the last episode, set on VE Day, Gary ends up becoming trapped in the past after he saves the life of future Prime Minister Clement Attlee from assasination. Gary tries to tell Reg, but he is drunk and never learns of Gary's time travelling secret.