Frank Tate

Francis 'Frank' Ronald Tate was the father of Chris Tate, Zoe Tate, and Jamie Tate. He was the patriarch of the Tate dynasty.

1937-1989
Frank was born Francis Ronald Tate on the 1st October 1937 to Nigel Tate and an unnamed woman. Frank was an only child. In the mid 1950s, Frank did his National Service. Frank had an illegitimate son called Liam Hammond in 1961 and left his mother. Frank met Jean shortly afterwards and they married in 1962 and they had two children, Chris in 1963 and Zoe in 1968. Frank never knew he had a secret son from his previous relationship, a son who grew up in poverty while Frank lived the life of luxury. In 1984 Jean fell ill with cancer and Frank assisted her suicide. In 1986 he married again, to a much younger woman, Kim Barker. By 1989 Frank was a multimillionaire, which he then decided to retire and bought Home Farm.

1989-1997
Businessman Frank Tate arrived in Beckindale in November 1989. Frank then revealed that he planned to buy Home Farm when NY Estates pulled out 2 years earlier but was unsuccessful at that time. As patriarch of the Tate family, he arrived with his second wife Kim, son Chris  and daughter Zoe. Frank had previously married been married to Jean, who died in 1984. It was later revealed that Kim, who had started off as Frank's secretary, had an affair with Frank while Jean was dying of cancer.

Frank, having made his fortune in haulage, and Kim bought Home Farm along with all the land belonging to it. Matt Skilbeck demanded that Frank sacks the incompetent man who is the manager of Frank's haulage firm until Frank said that he is his son. Matt wanted to start afresh, so Frank helped him make a fresh start away from the village, in Norfolk. Frank and Kim continued to run Tate Hualage along with Chris. Frank had big plans for the village and wanted to shake things up. Frank and Kim's married life was shattered in 1992 when Kim had an affair with gamekeeper Neil Kinkaid. Frank subsequently threw her out and they divorced. Frank was deeply affected by his separation from Kim, and turned to alcoholism to drown his sorrows. In  December1993, Frank was deemed a hero during the plane crash that rocked Beckindale when he helped local farmer Jack Sugden rebuild Skipdale bridge that had been demolished by the crash and let emergency services across. During the plane crash, Frank withheld Kim from running into her burning stables to rescue her horses. Frank and Kim soon reconciled and they remarried in 1994.

With his life back on track Frank stopped drinking and he and Kim enjoyed their remarriage. However, in 1996, Home Farm employee Dave Glover soon caught Kim's eye, and they began an affair. Frank hired a spy to watch over Kim and Dave, and eventually caught them in bed together, uttering the line "What do you call this Dave - overtime?". Kim later discovered she was pregnant and gave birth to baby James in September 1996. Frank paid Kim £1 million to name the baby as his, although Frank was eventually revealed to be James's biological father. Dave died on Boxing Day 1996 while rescuing Baby James from a fire. In 1997, Kim took her next plot against Frank by faking her own death, subsequently getting Frank wrongfully imprisoned for her murder. After Frank was released from prison however, Kim shocked him by turning up on his doorstep on 22nd May 1997. Kim revealed that the woman who had in fact been killed was a double, and, after a heated argument, Frank suffered a massive heart attack. As Frank lay dying on the floor, Kim uttered the last words he ever heard, which were "You're a dinosaur Frank, and we all know what happened to them". Frank then died the following day and the true circumstances of his death were never exposed.

Legacy
One of Frank's biggest secrets were revealed two years after his death when Tate Haulage employee Liam Hammond - who took Chris Tate hostage - revealed that he was Frank's illegitimate child and that he was the result of an affair between Frank and an unnamed woman. Liam said that Frank left his mother when she was pregnant with him, and that he grew up in poverty while Frank's subsequent children lived the life of luxury. Chris then bonded with Liam, but Liam was shot and killed by Zoe when she was trying to "save" Chris. The photos of Frank with Liam's mother and other documents were destroyed so the police could not think Zoe killed Liam, and a verdict of lawful killing was reached. When Chris died in 2003, He was buried with Frank.

In 2009, Chris' son Noah Tate was shown his late grandfather's grave. In 2010, a drugged up Holly Barton fell asleep on Frank's grave.

Frank was mentioned by Eric Pollard in October 2018 when Kim returned to the village but without James. Eric revealed to the villagers that back in 1997, there was a lot of speculation that Kim had caused Frank's death.

Quotes
"Good grief! A farmer bang on time! Sorry if I made you jump, didn't hear you come in" - first line.

"What d'ya call this, Dave? Overtime?" - to Dave Glover upon discovering Dave's affair with his wife Kim Tate.

"You made one little Mistake! "- to Kim Tate after Frank found out about her affair with Neil Kincaid.

"The feeling is completely neutral, "darling". - to Kim Tate after she tells him that she "despises him". "Kim." - final line, to Zoe Tate